Josue urges KL to seek second spot and boost confidence for Malaysia Cup
PETALING JAYA: Kuala Lumpur’s Brazilian playmaker Paulo Josue has seen the ups and downs of the City Boys.
The talismanic 31-year-old joined KL in 2017 and his high work rate and ability to dictate the tempo of a game led to the team winning the Premier League title in 2018 and promotion to the Super League in 2019.
But it was a short-lived sojourn as KL were relegated to the Premier League this year.
Josue was made captain and his telling passes from the middle of the park led KL to promotion to the Super League in 2021.
KL are currently third in the Premier League standings with 21 points while Terengganu II are second with 22 points. Penang are league champions with 26 points.
The City Boys have to play Kuching City FC in a postponed match because of the Covid-19 outbreak at the Hang Jebat Stadium on Saturday to complete their fixture for the season.
If they win, they will overtake Terengganu II to finish second and even if they lose they will finish third but will still be promoted. The Terengganu side, which is a feeder squad, are not eligible for promotion.
Nevertheless, skipper Josue who has played for Brazilian clubs Juventude and Lajeadense, has urged his teammates to give their all to take second place to boost their confidence for the Malaysia Cup competition which starts on Nov 6.
“Kuching are on form, so it would not be an easy game for us. They have won four straight games. We still have the focus although this game has no bearing as we have accomplished our mission of getting promoted,” said Josue.
“Three points from this game would put us in second place. To be honest, our training has been affected because of the CMCO (conditional movement control order) but we hope to end our campaign in style by beating Kuching.”
On the Malaysia Cup, Josue is of the opinion that any team can be winners because it is played in a knockout format.
“This Malaysia Cup will be interesting because of the format and I think the competition will be quite even.
“To me, it all depends on the team’s form on match day.”