Second loss for Rhinos in Philippines friendly
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Rhinos suffered a 2-1 defeat to Kaya FC Makati to conclude their pre-season tour of the Philippines yesterday.
The Rhinos fell to Robert Lopez Mendy’s opener before winger Maxsius Musa equalised late in the first half.
Kaya FC could have added a second via Mendy but saw his effort disallowed to leave the teams tied at 1-1 going into the break.
The teams returned for the second half looking to add to their rally but it favoured Kaya FC who got the winning goal through Miguel Tanton.
Team manager Datuk Juil Nuatim said it was a good game of football and revealed Sabah displayed an improved performance compared to the 1-5 defeat to Global Cebu FC on Tuesday.
“We did much better than the first game but the finishing was not up to mark.
“The team have no problem creating chances...we had enough of them to win the game. This is one area that we need to focus when we get back home,” he said via Whatsapp Messenger after the match.
Juil preferred to look on the positive side of things following their winless tour of the neighbouring country.
He said the matches againstthe top sides of the Philippines Football League would benefit the Rhinos in their preparation for the Malaysian League 2018.
“I saw the head coach Jelius (Ating) taking down plenty of notes from the two friendly matches and hopefully we would be able to rectify all the weaknesses before the start of the Premier League,” he added.
The Rhinos return home today.
Meanwhile, Sabah will kick off the new league season against Terengganu FC II at the Likas Stadium on February 2.