Tambadaus must bounce back from defeat – Peter
The Tambadaus are urged to bounce back from defeat when they face Penang in their second Group C match of the Malaysia Cup competition at the Bandaraya Stadium this evening.
Sabah Football Association acting president Datuk Peter Anthony said he hoped the defeat to Perak in their first match would serve as a motivator for victory.
He admitted that the 3-0 defeat in their first match on Sunday was rather disappointing following the team's success in the Premier League earlier on.
It was not the sort of performance he expected from a team that had recently won the league title, but said it could be redeemed if the team clinched victory in this second game.
“We need to start winning in this short group competition because every point is important. We can do it as long as the players do their best,” Peter said when contacted yesterday.
Peter said records showed that meetings in the Premier League between the two sides ended in Sabah's favour (2-0 win at home and a scoreless draw in the away game)
And Peter said all the players were ready for the team's second group stage match.
“So far all the players are ready and this will allow the coaches to field the best line-up. I believe the coaches led by Jelius Ating have prepared a plan for the team to get the points,” he said.
Peter, who is also Minister of Infrastructure, said it was crucial that the team win points in away games to brighten their chances of getting past the four-team group stage challenge.
Only the top two teams will make it to semi-finals after the double-round (home and away) league format group challenge.
The Tambadaus are targeting to at least a repeat their achievement last season of reaching the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Jelius is expected to field the same players in the line-up against Perak.
“Any changes if any will be minor. I am still considering either Maxsius (Musa) or Jenius (Karib) for the line-up. I will finalise this later after the training session later,” he said.
Sabah's probable line-up will include Rozaimie Rohim as main custodian, Rawilson Batuil, Park Tae Su, Evan Wensley and Randy Baruh for the defense, Mohd Azizan Nordin, Ahmet Atayev, Alto Linus, and Maxsius or Jenius in midfield as Rodoljub Paunovic and Aguinaldo Mendes at the front.