Tambadaus mentally impressive — Jelius
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Tambadaus head coach Jelius Ating is satisfied with the team’s performance despite losing 2-0 to Melaka United in their friendly match with the Super League side at the Hang Jebat Stadium, Wednesday.
“I am satisfied…the players performed well and presented strong challenges to the opponent. Despite losing the game, we actually created more chances to score goals.
“We played aggressively and we defended well…the two goals were conceded from the spot which is negligible. Looking at the scoring chances in this match, I would say we did better,” he said when contacted in Melaka, yesterday.
Both sides remained in deadlock at half time with the two goals coming only after the break when the referee awarded penalties to Melaka United in the 49th and 87th minutes.
According to Jelius, Sabah had several good chances to score goals but those chances went begging after Rodoljub Paunovic, Maxsius Musa and Justin Samaan failed to convert.
The scoreline may be unconvincing to some but for Jelius, the mentality shown by his charges was impressive enough, taking into account that victory for their superior opponent was won not without a hard fight.
“I wanted the players to show the right mentality in this game. I wanted them to play as though it was a real league match. This was important for the team to maintain their momentum and I must say I am happy with the performance they showed,” he said.
Jelius featured his usual lineup with the exception of fielding just two foreign imports, namely Paunovic and Luka Milunovic.
Luiz Carlos Junior did not join the squad in this stint of friendly matches. The Brazilian striker was deliberately left out to nurse a thigh injury, while South Korean defender Park Tae Su, who will miss Sabah’s next league game due to suspension, started from the bench.
The Sabah Tambadaus first11 line up comprised Rozaimie Rohim, Rawilson Batuil, Mafry Balang, Dendy Lowa, Randy Baruh Samson, Mohd Azizan Nordin, Ricco Nigel Milus, Maxsius Musa, Sabri Sahar, Rodoljub Paunovic and Luka Milunovic.
During the match, Jelius introduced six players from the bench, all of whom are regular substitutes in Sabah’s Premier League games. They are Robson Rendy Rining who came on for Rozaimie, Alto Linus (for Randy), Jenius Karib (Dendy), Justin Samaan (Maxsius) and Park (Rawilson).
Sabah Tambadaus played a second friendly match with the same opponent last night. They have another friendly match with PKNS FC (also from the Super League) at the MBPJ Stadium in Selangor tomorrow (March 23).