Sabah footballers op mis c
Sabah are confident of ge ng the full points when they meet Melaka in their opening test in the Group C challenge at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Perak tonight.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah are confident of getting the full points when they meet Melaka in their opening test in the Group C challenge at the Malaysia Games (Sukma) in Perak tonight.
The match at the Parit Buntar Mini Stadium kicks off at 8.45pm and team manager Benedict Asmat is quietly confident that Sabah will win the game.
Victory is a must for Sabah to avoid any disappointments in this three-team group stage challenge. The only other team in group is Penang and Sabah’s date with them is scheduled on September 15.
“It’s a bit tricky competing in a three-team group because you can easily get eliminated if you are not careful with the points.
“That’s why this is a must-win game for us and I believe the coaches led by Johnny Dominicus have prepared the right strategy to help us through the match,” Benedict said when contacted in Perak yesterday.
Despite injury to several key players like defenders Muhd Zaki Safri and Kelvin Pengiran, as well as midfielder Eddy Ladius, Benedict said he was confident it would not affect the team so much as other players were fit and ready to join the line-up.
Meanwhile, Johnny said the injuries to the three players were not serious and that it was possible they would start from the bench.
“But for the first-11 line up, I will field only the best players who are free from injury,” he said.
The match will be played on a synthetic field and Johnny said such playing conditions should not be a problem for his boys as they were quite used to training on an artificial pitch.
“The only thing is that I was made to understand the synthetic field here is new. In any case, we will test the field tonight and hopefully, the players will have no problems with it,” he said.
For the record, Sabah and Melaka were also in the same group in this season’s President Cup competition where Sabah emerged on top with 1-0 wins at home and away.
Most teams competing in Sukma will be fielding the same players from their President’s Cup squad teams as both tournaments were for Under-21 players.
Johnny was also the coach when Sabah notched a historical gold medal win at the 15th Sukma in Pahang in 2012.