New Sabah Times
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Cebagoo FC will be hoping to carry on with their winning momentum when they take on bottom of the table Shahzan Muda FC of Pahang in a FAM Cup tie at the UMS Stadium today.
Sabah’s sole representatives won their last tie away by defeating Perak YBU FC 2-0, and are looking good to nick their second win in a row.
But head coach Razali Zinin was quick to warn his players from underestimating their opponents, insisting that their rivals are no YBU.
“We must not get carried away with the win over Perak YBU. Furthermore, Shahzan Muda is a different team altogether, and we must not take them lightly,” Razali said yesterday.
“We do not know much about them, but we do know that they were playing in the Premier League not too long ago, and that should tell us much of their quality.
“We did quite well to get a win last week, but that is not a guarantee that we will get another tomorrow (today) because YBU is not Shahzan Muda,” he added, while calling on his charges to give their best shot and work hard on the field.
Razali also wants his players to stay alert, and try to minimise committing silly mistakes, which he said led to their 2-3 defeat to ATM Tentera Darat in their last home tie on March 10.
He also hopes the team will have a good start, before saying: “I believe if we get a good start (against Shahzan Muda) the rest will take care of itself.
And I just hope the team will not repeat the same mistakes as they did against Tentera Darat.”
Razali said he and the rest of his coaching staff have done all they could in training to prepare the team, and it is now up to the players to apply them on match day.
“The target is to win and hopefully we will achieve it with the preparations that we have had,” added Razali.
Cebagoo FC will be boosted with the return of skipper Md Reithuddin Emran from a one-match suspension.
Razali said he would start his skipper at the backline together with Abd Thaufiq Hoq, Adnan Amran and Zulfikri Jemai, an indication that he is sticking to his 4-4-2 formation.
Mohd Arfiyansah Jafar will be the creative force in midfield along with Billyton Vun, Gerd Smith and Mohd Nazmeer Stuh, while Rainold Masaat and Hafiz Aldin will partner up-front Shairul Boidi will start ahead of Afizan Paka in goal.
Cebagoo FC is currently fourth in the 11-team standings on nine points from six games, while Shahzan Muda FC are rooted at the bottom of the standings without a point after being docked of two wins (six points) by the FA of Malaysia Competition Committee after being found fielding ineligible players in their matches against Perak YBU and ATM Tentera Darat, which they won.
