Jubilo FC runner-up in Plate category of Kuala Lumpur Cup
KOTA KINABALU: Jubilo FC returned with encouraging result from the recent Kuala Lumpur Cup football tournament held at The New Camp in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya.
The local football academy under-18 squad finished runnerup in the Plate category final after a narrow 1-0 defeat to Praksa Thailand.
In the early rounds, the squad coached by former state and national team striker Bobby Gonzales registered two wins and two losses in Group B.
After opening with a 1-0 defeat to Praksa Thailand, Jubilo FC bounced back in style to beat Destiny FC Tigers of Selangor 2-0 and El Roi of Kuala Lumpur 2-1.
Jubilo FC ended their group fixtures with a 1-0 defeat to Kuala Lumpur Youth Soccer (KLYS) team to finish third but it was enough to send them through to the quarterfinal.
Jubilo FC gave it their all but their quarterfinal opponents Destiny Eagles of Selangor scored the only goal of the game to secure a place in the main Cup semifinal.
As for Jubilo FC, the defeat meant they had to settle for a place in the Plate semifinal where they took on Group B rivals Destiny FC Tigers and won 1-0 to move into the final.
In the Plate title match, Jubilo FC again faced familiar opponents in Praksa Thailand and despite putting up a fight, the Sabah side ended up on the losing side for a second time against the Thai juniors.
Meanwhile, Jubilo FC chief executive officer Joe Datuk Golkhan believed the players have gained valuable experience and exposure from playing in the tournament.
“I’m very pleased and personally, it was an extraordinary achievement from the team.
“We gained valuable experience and learnt many lessons in the tournament, which will help the players make progress.
“What’s important is that we must stay focus and learnt from the mistakes in order to make improvement and to become better. Hopefully we will continue to be successful in the future,” said Joe who also heads the Jubilo Football Academy (JFA).
The KL Cup is seven-a-side international youth tournament that featured various age group categories for boys and girls.