Singapore, 26 March 2025: PSM Makassar defender Yuran Fernandes is confident the Indonesian side have the tools to defeat Vietnam’s Công An Hà Nội FC in the semi-finals of the ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ next month, to book a place in the inaugural final.
PSM Makassar will host the first leg of the tie against the Vietnamese side, who topped Group B with a perfect record of five wins, at the Gelora B.J. Habibie Stadium on April 2 before travelling to Hanoi for the return game at Hang Day Stadium on 30 April.
Despite Công An Hà Nội FC’s formidable record during the group stage, Fernandes believes his team can prevail against their talented opponents.
“I saw some highlights, I haven’t seen the full matches,” the Cape Verde international says of the Vietnamese outfit. “I saw a little bit against Borneo FC Samarinda when they played here.
“But when we have seen them, they have a good team, they create a lot of chances and score a lot of goals. Offensively they’re a very good team.
“I think it’s a 50 percent chance for both teams. We start at 50 percent, and I think it will be very tough, it will not be easy but I’m confident we can win and we can pass through.”
PSM booked their place in the knockout rounds after battling through the group phase, finishing in second place in Group A behind Thailand’s BG Pathum United FC thanks to a win over another Vietnamese side, Ðông À Thanh Hôa FC in their final game.
That 3-0 victory hauled Bernardo Taveres’ team into the semi-finals after a 1-0 loss to Malaysia’s Terengganu FC in the penultimate round of matches looked to have derailed their bid for a berth in the last four.
“We’re very happy to be in this stage, to play the semi-final against a very good team,” says Fernandes. “We will see what we can do. We want to play in the final, but we need to take it step-by-step.
“In (the group) stage we tried to pass in first place but unfortunately when we lost in Terengganu we dropped to third, but we won the last game, and we went up to second.
“The first target was to go through in first but now we’ve already passed and BG Pathum United are a very good team. We have passed to the semi-finals, so let’s see if we can meet them again in the final.”
BG Pathum United will take on fellow Thai League 1 side Buriram United FC in the other semi-final in the inaugural Shopee Cup™, with Fernandes confident the tournament is playing a major role in the further development of the club game in the Southeast Asian region.
“It’s the first year of this competition and it gives the teams the opportunity to do something around Asia,” says the 30-year-old, whose form for PSM earned him a call-up for the Cape Verde squad for the March international window.
“We can play against good teams, and we have had very moments, playing against good teams. We play at home and away, so the competition is very good.
“To play around Asia can bring some experience for the young players, it can allow them to show their quality outside of Indonesia. This competition will give opportunities for all the players to go show something and for the club to do something outside Indonesia.”
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