Sepanggar, Semporna have equal chance of winning KDM Malaysia League
KOTA KINABALU: Either side have an equal chance of winning the title when Sepanggar and Semporna clash in the final of the KDM Malaysia Football League Tournament 2018-2019 at the Likas Stadium, this Sunday.
The qualification of the two teams to the final was enough to prove their strength as Sepanggar defeated Tongod by a 5-1 aggregate, while Semporna beat Sipitang by a 31 aggregate in the other semifinal match.
Assistant team manager for Sepanggar Redzuan Ismail@ Garin said the final match would be a tough test for his side and he hoped the players would not take things lightly as Semporna are capable of creating an upset.
“This is the final match where everything is thrown open again and any side can win. It can potentially be an upset if we are too confident or if we take things too lightly.
“Our players must be focused for the entire period of the match because Semporna can create pressure by way of counter-attack. They can certainly present threats if our players fail to control the game,” he said.
Meanwhile, Redzuan hoped that all Sepanggar supporters would turn up in numbers to sing the team to glory.
The match is scheduled to kick off at 7pm.
The tournament, organised by the Malaysian Kadazan Dusun Organisation (KDM Malaysia) with the cooperation of the Youth and Sports Ministry, is the second edition after the inaugural staging in 2014-2015.
A total of 36 teams took part in the tournament which offers more than RM300,000 worth of cash prizes including RM100,000 for the league champion and RM50,000 for the FA Cup winners.
Towards this end, Redzuan said that behind the prestigious championship, the president of KDM Malaysia who is also president of Sabah Football Association, was the backbone of this era of football development which was seen to have a huge effective impact especially in realising the objectives of the tournament.
He said one of the main objectives was to provide more space and opportunities for players from all over the state to showcase their talents and maybe be roped in to join the state squad.
“The local football enthusiasts and I believe in the leadership of Datuk Peter Anthony and hope that this kind of development tournament will continue to expand for other age groups like under-18, under-16 and under-12 so that a proper football academy can be established,” he said.