Rhinos fail to prove their worth, says coach Jelius

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah players failed to prove their worth in the Malaysia Cup match that ended in a 4-0 defeat to Pahang at the Likas Stadium here on Monday night.

Head coach Jelius Ating fielded non-first-11 players to give others in the squad a chance to get some action as the match was just a formality to complete the Group D fixtures.

But the outcome it yielded came as a huge shocker as he did not expect the team to lose so heavily.

"Obviously the defeat did not affect our position in the standings because we already qualified after finishing top of the group.

"And even if we had won the match, it would not have affected our position. But I did not expect the result to be so bad. This was the chance for some of the other players to prove their worth but they failed to capitalise," Jelius said when contacted yesterday.

The match had attracted a huge crowd and the humiliating defeat did not help in terms of spectator confidence.

Close to 10,000 fans had turned up to cheer on the team, but were left reeling and bitterly disappointed with the home defeat.

Despite the result, Sabah are still top of the group and will face a preferred opponent in Kelantan, while Pahang will face a tougher team in Johor Darul Ta'zim FC in another quarterfinal match.

While Jelius has faith that everyone in the squad is capable of playing a first-11 role, he maintained that players must earn their place and prove their worth.

"They failed to put on the performance that we hoped for and the result was terrible. We gave them a chance to prove that they are capable of playing in the first-11 but it seems they need to work on their performance," he said.

"But the good news is we are still in the competition," Jelius added.

Meanwhile, Sabah will welcome Hamran Peter for their preparation to face Kelantan in the first leg quarterfinal match scheduled for September 22 in Kota Bharu.

Hamran is returning from Perak after being attached with the SUKMA squad.

Later Sabah will host Kelantan in the second leg match at the Likas Stadium on September 29.

POSITIVE SIGN: Andre wins a silver in the men's Long Jump but he is expected to do better when he competes in his favoured Triple Jump event.

GALLANT EFFORTS: Kartina (left), seen here with team manager Bell Yasoi, narrowly misses two gold from weightlifting yesterday.