Foreign imports in town

Daily Express

Mitrovic (left), Grbovic (right)

Kota Kinabalu: Two foreign imports have arrived in town looking to fill up the three foreign import quotas for the 2014 season. Despite only arriving in the early hours of the morning on Friday, the two wasted no time to join up with the local players for two hours of training at the Likas Stadium on the same day. Striker Altin Grbovic together with fitness coach Dusan "Dule" Momcilovic flew in after 36 hours flight from Serbia while Australian midfielder Srecko Mitrovic who arrived later on a different flight.

 Of the two, the 29-year-old Mitrovic is more experienced having played in various countries including more recently in Indonesia for PSM Makassar and Deltras. He started his career at Marcini Stallions in 2000, at the age of 16. He was then bought by the Italian Serie A club Piacenza and a year later he signed a 5-ear deal with Italian Serie B club Ascoli. 27-year-old Grbovic on the other hand, was a former Serbia and Montenegro youth international and he played for NK Zvijezda Gradacac in the Bosnia and Herzegovina Premier League.

 Another defender from Croatia is also set to come in the coming days. Meanwhile, Momcilovic who has 25 years of experience as a fitness coach in football told Express Sports that he has no difficulty to work with the Sabah players as he already has insight knowledge on the condition of the players. He said Milomir Seslija has been calling him over the phone over the past months to work on the players' physical fitness based on the information from Milomir.

 Head coach Milomir added that it is important to get a fitness coach early for the post-season training. "We must get a proper coach and prepare the team at the beginning and give them the proper training and diet so that when the season starts, they will be in top shape and not getting fatigue instead." He said the reason why the European players still look fit throughout the season despite the heavy schedule was due to the well planned post-season training where they managed to keep up their physical condition, keep their skills sharp and maintain a degree of mental toughness and it helps to reduce injuries when full-fledged training comes around for the new season.

 On the local imports, Milomir said it is too early to make contact with any players as the Malaysia Cup is still on and only after the season is over then he and Sabah Football Association officials will make the proper approach on their intended targets.