New Sabah Times
By FRANCIS XAVIER
KOTA KINABALU: Luiz Carlos Junior’s love affair with the Tambadau has been cut short.
The Brazilian striker has parted with the State Premier League side on mutual agreement, yesterday, less than five months after signing for the team early this season.
He is the second foreign player to have left the team during the ongoing mid-season transfer window after Serbian attacker Luka Milunovic, who left for his parent club, Melaka United late last month.
With Milunovic and Junior’s departure, the Sabah Football Association will now be looking for two replacements to complete their four foreign quotas in the team.
At the moment, they still have the services of Korean defender Park Taesu and Serbian striker Rodoljub Paunovic. However, Paunovic’s contract ends on June 2, but with Junior leaving the team; it is very likely that he will have his contracted extended.
Tambadau Team manager Henry Saimpon said they are currently looking for an ideal replacement for the duo while hoping that they will be able to find the right player before their next game, which is against UKM FC away on May 17.
“We have two foreign hopefuls attending trials with the team namely former Angola international striker, Aguinaldo Mendes Veiga, 30 and Ahmet Atayew, 29, of Turkmenistan.
“If anyone of them meets our requirements or criteria we will try our best to get everything done in order for them to be part of our team against UKM,” said Henry.
“We know things will not get easier in the second round, so we need to reinforce our team during this transfer window,” said Henry after his meeting with Junior yesterday.
On behalf of the team, Henry thanks Junior for his contribution during his short stay with the team. “I would like to say thank (to Junior). He has been a good professional and I wish him the best in his footballing career in the future,” said Henry.
A quick glance at Aguinaldo’s football background, the 186m-tall striker is a former Angola national striker and last played for Poli Lasi FC in the Romania Super League (2019).
Last year, Aguinaldo, 30, played for Ubon UMT in the Thailand Premier League. As for the 29-year-old Ahmet, who hails from Turkmenistan, the midfielder plied his trade in the Indonesian League from 2017 and recently with Arema and Persela.
For the record, Tambadau is currently third in the 11-team Premier League after collecting 21 points from six wins, three draws and two defeats.
They are three points behind leaders Johor Darul Ta’zim II, who lead the standings on 24 points while second placed UiTM FC is on 23.
Like JDT II, the Tambadau has played a game lesser than UiTM FC. Terengganu FC II, who also holds a one-game advantage over UiTM FC, is in fourth on 19 points.
