Rhinos in Philippines pre-season friendlies
Sabah Rhinos will be heading to the Philippines a er all as a pre-season warm-up to their Malaysian Football Premier League challenge.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Rhinos will be heading to the Philippines after all as a pre-season warmup to their Malaysian Football Premier League challenge.
Friendly matches with several Filipino club sides had earlier been scrapped, but as it stands those arrangements have finally materialised and the squad is scheduled to depart tomorrow.
Team manager Datuk Juil Nuatim said Sabah would spend a week in the Pearl of the Orient Seas. They have two scheduled matches with local sides that play in the Philippines national league (PFL).
Sabah will face Global Cebu FC on January 23 before a date with Kaya FC Makati on January 25.
“We tried to get three matches but were forced to settle for only two due to time constraints.
“Even so, I think this is pushing it quite close to the line, considering that the league kicks off in less than two weeks. But at least we are able to get some good matches to test ourselves,” he said when contacted yesterday.
Two days ago Sabah completed their 30-player registration quota, signing Puerto Rican national striker Hector Ramos a.k.a. “Pito”.
However, head coach Jelius Ating can only bring 20 players for the short stint to the Philippines.
Their opponents in the Philippines are not without pedigree. Sabah will be tested by Global Cebu who finished fourth in the eight-team PFL, while Kaya FC Makati finished third.
Both teams also qualified for the country's Final Series where the top four teams from the PFL competed in a return leg semifinal format competition.
Global Cebu concluded as runners-up, while Kaya FC were fourth.
The Series saw Global Cebu upset Merlaco Manila 3-2 on aggregate from a 2-1 win and 1-1 draw.
Kaya FC Makati on the other hand lost on a 3-1 aggregate after 1-0 and 2-1 defeats to Ceres Negros.
But Global Cebu succumb to Ceres Negros (4-1) in the final, while Kaya FC Makatai lost (3-1) to Merlaco in the play-off.
“I believe these two teams will give us good tests to warm up for the Premier League,” Juil said.
Sabah will kick off their Premier League challenge by hosting Terengganu FC at the Likas Stadium on February 2.