KL off to winning start in Coppa Sleman
WITH Selangor awaiting them on their return to the Super League on Feb 4, Kuala Lumpur hope a successful outing at the preseason Coppa Sleman tournament in Yogyakarta will prepare them to face their Klang Valley rivals.
It is coach Fabio Maciel’s final chance to iron out the deficiencies in the KL team ahead of their first top-flight match in six years.
KL kicked off their Coppa Sleman campaign with a 2-0 win over Indonesian second division side Pakindo Mojokerto Putra on Tuesday with Brazilian striker Guilherme De Paula scoring both goals in the first 25 minutes.
Maciel fielded his strongest side available with Indra Putra Mahayuddin and Junior Aparecido dictating play in midfield in support of forwards De Paula and Paulo Josue.
“It was a good game and the result was beyond expectation because we had an early flight on Monday and it took us more than five hours to get here,” said Maciel.
“I thought the players might be a bit tired but they did well, creating many chances and defended well. Although the Indonesian club are from the second division, they made it difficult for us.”
Maciel intends to make changes for their second game today against Malaysian Premier League team Police before playing hosts PSS Sleman on the following day.
“I have to take a look at the recovery of the players and I will probably make changes because we play two games in two days,” said Maciel.
“I will rotate players so that everyone gets to play but we also want to be champions of this tournament to build confidence before we start the Super League.”
KL, however, are without winger Naim Nazmi Zainuddin, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury two weeks ago while Irfan Zakaria is currently in China for the AFC Under-23 Championship. Devinder Singh