Second Leg Of Menpora Cup Final, Persib Bandung Coach Asks Players Not To Give Up

JAKARTA - Persib Bandung coach Robert Rene Alberts asked his team not to give up on the second leg of the Menpora Cup final against Persija Jakarta at Manahan Stadium, Solo, Central Java, Sunday, April 25.

"We want to score a goal in tomorrow's match but I can't say at what minute. You can even score a goal in extra time, like what happened in a big club which ended up losing because it conceded in extra time," said Robert, quoted by Antara, Saturday, April 24th.

"You must not give up in football, until the referee decides the game is over," he added.

In the previous first leg, Persib Bandung had to admit Persija Jakarta's superiority with a 0-2 defeat at Maguwoharjo Stadium, Sleman, Yogyakarta, Thursday, April 22.

The two goals were created in the early minutes of the first half match, the Dutch coach admitted, due to a lack of concentration.

However, Robert believes his team will be able to maximize the full 90 minutes in tomorrow's match to attack the Kemayoran Tigers' defense sector.

"In football, you can not say at what minute you want to score a goal. At that time, we 'fell asleep' and after analyzing it, our players did not have enough time to recover fitness," explained the 66-year-old coach.

Meanwhile, Persib Bandung goalkeeper I Made Wirawan admitted that he had learned from the mistakes he made in the first leg of the Menpora Cup final against Persija Jakarta, last Thursday.

Therefore, Made hopes that his team will be able to respond and get the best results in the next match.

"As the coach said that we were not ready in the previous match or there was a little bit of neglect. We learned from that mistake and hopefully tomorrow we can perform optimally," he said.

Made also ensured that the Blue Prince squad would still "enjoy" enjoying the match later.

"For us, it doesn't make it a burden, but a motivation to perform better and be able to win matches," concluded Made Wirawan.