Almeida cherishes his ‘second home’
FORMER Benfica youth coach Eduardo Almeida regards Malaysia as his second home after Portugal.
The 39-year-old was hired for six months by Melaka as a replacement for Englishman Eric Williams.
His mission will be to rescue Melaka from relegation following a subdued performance in the Super League before the break. The former FAM Cup champions are second from bottom with only 11 points.
Almeida, 39, is best remembered for keeping relegation threatened T-Team in the Super League in 2013 after replacing Englishman Peter Butler. He was initially hired as the coaching director of T-Team’s Young Titans Football Academy.
“It is great to return to Malaysia for a second stint. I like the country and the football here,” Almeida told Timesport yesterday. “Melaka are a good club. The reason I joined Melaka is that they have a vision to make an impression in the M-League.
“The club are currently in the relegation zone and my job is to help them avoid the drop.
“The Malaysia Cup is also important but the priority is the Super League.”
Almeida is assisted by G. Selvamohan, who was handling the team when Williams requested to be rested last month.
“I see a lot of quality players in training. The focus will be to get them play the way I want.
“There is not much time but I think everything will be in order before our first game on July 1,” said Almeida, who was coaching S.C. Angrense, a third-tier team in Portugal, before he moved to Melaka.
Following the poor form before the break, Melaka released several players, including last season’s Premier League Golden Boot winner Ilija Spasojevic of Montenegro.
Melaka completed their midseason transfer window with nine new signings.
The three new imports are Croatian striker Marko Simic, Macedonian Jasmin Mecinovic and Brazilian Felipe De Souza.
The team also secured Johor’s Azniee Taib, Fandi Othman and Nicholas Swirad on loan deals. Nor Hakim Isa and S. Sivanesan were signed from Perak and PKNS respectively.
They have also signed Englishborn Malaysian Jordan Yong from King’s Lynn Town FC, who play in the Southern League Premier Division in England.
Meanwhile, a collision course is expected between Football Malaysia LLP (FMLLP) and Kelantan following the former’s decision not to allow the Super League side to register FrenchSenegalese forward Seydi L’Imam.
According to FMLLP’s statement yesterday, the club’s request has been denied following failure to provide documents over the settlement of players’ outstanding wages and contributions to statutory bodies.
However, FMLLP agreed to halve the six-point deduction imposed on Kelantan over the same reason.
The Kelantan FA (KFA) face a sticky issue over the status of Syedi as they have already signed him as a replacement for Italian striker Alessandro Celin.
FMLLP also stated that Kelantan must provide documents over the settlement of debts by Oct 31 or face the risk of being demoted to the Premier League next season.