KUALA LUMPUR: KL City defender Giancarlo Gallifuoco takes pride in his side being labelled as a 'Cup' team.
And he believes the City Boys will do well against Kedah in the Malaysia Cup round of 16 first leg in Alor Star tonight.
The Italian-Australian, who has been a key figure for KL in recent years, is looking forward to another good run in the Malaysia Cup.
"We've come from a period of stagnation (since the 1980s) to winning the 2021 Malaysia Cup, reaching the AFC Cup final (2022) and the FA Cup final (2023). These are incredible feats and this group of 'ragtag' KL City boys have brought glory back to the club which means a lot," said Gallifuoco.
"These boys have done incredible things with limited resources, especially compared to the bigger clubs like JDT, Selangor and Terengganu."
On the clash with Kedah, Gallifuoco acknowledged their quality. "Kedah are no joke. They've got a strong squad with players like Sony Norde and Irfan Zakaria, who I have a huge amount of respect for. They're a dangerous side, and it's going to be a tough match," he said.
The two sides featured in epic Malaysia Cup duels from 1987-1989 with KL City winning a 'hat-trick' of titles.
KL City outplayed Kedah 5-0 in a Super League match at the KLFA Stadium in September after the latter were forced to field junior players after their seniors boycotted the match due to unpaid salary