Sabah women in 1-1 draw at National Futsal League
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah women's futsal squad drew 1-1 with Selangor United MPSJ FC in the first round of the National Futsal League qualifiers at the National Sports Complex in Shah Alam Selangor, Thursday.
Head coach Rosmadih Wasli said the team missed out on victory after failing to complete some scoring opportunities.
“It was not easy because they (opponent) had many national players from the SEA Games last year. The match was tied nil-nil in the first half.
“But I think we dominated the game and created many chances. We went 1-0 up after the break (Esar Eslilah scored the goal) but MPSJ equalised before the game ended,” Rosmadih said when contacted on Friday.
They continue their challenge today with a match against Kelantan.
“We also have many national SEA Games players from last year but they are footballers. Playing futsal and playing football is very different obviously because of the difference in pitch size. But the experience can be utilised and I hope we play a better game tomorrow,” said Rosmadih.
Only a win will see Sabah make it into the National Futsal League this season (scheduled to begin late next month). A draw will be inadequate if Kelantan lose to MPSJ (yesterday).
Six teams are competing in two groups and the other three teams are Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan TCM FC and KL Immigration FC.
Meanwhile, Sabah men are drawn in Group E with the Kelantan and Selangor PJ Tigers. A total of 18 teams (in six groups) are competing for qualification. The top two teams will go through to the quarter-finals.
The male division of the qualifying competition involves 18 teams divided into six groups. The teams will compete in a league one round where each group's champion and two topranked teams will advance to the quarter-finals.
Only the two teams that make it to the final will qualify for the national league.
Sabah men led by Azman Soaibah faced Kelantan last night but results were not available at press time.