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| From right Hasmarul, Redzuan, Ezaidy, Fazli and Varathan seen talking to the man in charge of the State team, Seslija Milomir (2nd left) and his fitness coach Dusan Momcilovic at their first training session with their new team yesterday. |
“We hope to add another two or three more to complete our squad of 22 players for the new season. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to unearth hidden talents from the upcoming Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman Cup Inter-District Football Tournament. “It would be great if we can get new bloods from the tournament to complete our squad,” he added.
The Datuk Seri Musa Haji Aman Cup Inter-District Football Tournament will be held in the State Capital from Nov 11 to 15, 2013. Hasmarul Fadzir Hassan from Sime Darby FC, Redzuan Nawi, Ezaidy Khadir (both from Johor Darul Takzim), goalkeeper Fazli Paat (Johor FA), and right-back A. Varathan from Armed Forces are the five who have put pen to paper. Hasmarul is an attacking midfielder while both Redzuan and Ezaidy are defensive midfielders. Prior to the five, the FA had filled its three foreign players quota with Altin Grbovic of Serbia, Srecko Mitrovic of Australia and Predrag Pocuca of Croatia.
They have also retained 11 local players from the 2013 squad. However, four of them namely Shahrul Azhar Ture, Radzi Mohd Hussin, Alto Linus and Hardy Charles Parsi, have decided to decline the opportunity of extending their contracts with the State team. Both Shahril and Radzi have signed a one-year deal with Super League outfit Selangor PKNS, while Alto Linus is rumoured to be heading to T-Team. As for Hardy, it is believed that he will be donning Johor FA colours next season. The SFA has also retained one out of the eight local imports from this year’s squad – goalkeeper Sharil Sa’ari.
But the latter also declined the extension of his contract, and instead will sign for T-Team together with Alto. With the latest development, only four seniors are left in the team, namely Zainizam Marjan, Rosdin Wasli, Julamri Muhammad and Irwan Jamil while the rest are from the President’s Cup squad namely Sabri Sahar, Dendy Lowa and Didie Arizal Ibrahim.
With all the names that have been mentioned, the number of players in the list only comes to 17, so the other two names are pretty much a mystery, or perhaps both Rozaimi Abdul Rahman, who is with the Harimau Muda A, and the nippy Maxius Musa, who is plying his trade with the Harimau Muda B in the Singapore League, are heading home for the new season.
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Daily Express
Kota Kinabalu: Five local imports who have signed with the Sabah Football Association (Safa) started their first day of training with their new teammates at the Likas Stadium on Thursday afternoon. Safa Deputy President Datuk Lawrence Gimbang had earlier disclosed that the five with the recommendation of head coach Milomir Seslija had arrived here only a day earlier.
The five players are the three midfielders, Hasmarul Fadzir Hassan from Sime Darby FC, 27, Redzuan Nawi, 27, and Ezaidy Khadir, 30, both from Johor Darul Takzim as well as goalkeeper Fazli Paat from Johor FA and right back A. Varathan from ATM. Milomir said he was very pleased with the recruitment of the five players as they have indicated that they wanted to play for Sabah not merely for monetary gains but to bring glory to the team.
"It was very refreshing to learn that there are still players who are willing to come here to play despite the inflated market. All of them are good players in their own right and what impressed me was their willingness to lower their demand and just wanting a chance to prove that they are good for Sabah. "I always believe that as a player you must be able to prove yourself on the pitch first then the reward will surely come and I like players with this attitude who are willing to sacrifice in my team."
He also disclosed that two to three more players from the peninsula are set to join the team in the next few days. On the local players who opted to leave and signed for other teams, the coach said he was a bit disappointed but it was the players' own free will and he would not have sleepless nights over their decision. "No doubt I am upset but that is their rice bowl and I can't stop them from joining other teams if they think that is what they want," he said.
"Personally, I wish they could have chosen to play for the State team but nonetheless I think I have enough cover for their departure. I don't have any bad feelings towards them and I wish them all the best and I believe the State team's door is always open for them to return one day." Two of the players, Sharul Azhar Ture and Radzi Hussin who were thought to be wanted by Safa to remain in the team next season had signed for PKNS while Alto Linus is believed to be joining T-Team while Charles Parsi is heading to Johor.
The remaining local players who have opted to stay are the ever loyal Zainizam Marjan, Rosdin Wasli, Julamri Mohd and the three junior players, Sabri Sahar, Dendy Lowa and Didie Arizal.
