No show by FC Langkawi

 Borneo Post

POSTED ON MARCH 30, 2022, WEDNESDAY AT 7:44 PMFOOTBALL, SABAH

KJFC captain Jenius Karib with the match officials getting ready for the M3 League match without the opposing team FC Langkawi at the Likas Stadium on Tuesday.

KOTA KINABALU (30 March): Kinabalu Jaguar FC (KJFC) will leave it to the Amateur Football League (AFL) to decide on the outcome of the M3 League match against FC Langkawi.

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KJFC were all ready for the much anticipated first home game of the season at the Likas Stadium on Tuesday but FC Langkawi failed to show up.

“We were a bit disappointed because we are on a good momentum after our victory against ATM (Armed Forces FC) last week.

“Furthermore, it was supposed to be our first home game after the original game against FC Langkawi last month and against Tun Razak City FC on March 26 were postponed with AFL’s consent after the opposing teams faced problem related to Covid-19.

“There were efforts from FC Langkawi to postpone the rescheduled match today (yesterday) but the AFL rejected the application as stated in an official letter to FC Langkawi where KJFC were also given a copy,” KJFC team manager Adzhar Muhamad said on Tuesday.

Adzhar said KJFC players and team officials as well as the referees assigned for the match were all present at the Likas Stadium since AFL did not approve FC Langkawi’s application.

The full ceremony leading to the match kick-off was all done without the presence of FC Langkawi team, he said.

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“We were full ready for the game and were on the pitch for the kick-off but FC Langkawi did not show up.

“Maybe they (FC Langkawi) are not able to overcome whatever problems they faced but we went with AFL advice to be ready for the game.

“We will not know what action or decision will AFL take following FC Langkawi’s no show but one possibility is that in such circumstances, the team present will be awarded the victory without the match being played again,” said Adzhar.

KJFC have collected six points from the opening three matches where after a 1-0 defeat in the season opener to Ultimate FC, the state clubside bounced back with consecutive wins over Immigration FC 2-1 and ATM 2-0 respectively.

Safa Tuaran lift CM’s trophy

 Borneo Post

BY LESTER J. BINGKASAN ON MARCH 27, 2022, SUNDAY AT 8:53 PMFOOTBALL, SPORTS

Safa Tuaran players and team officials celebrate their Sabah Cup 2022 victory with Shahelmey, Juil and Nizam at the Likas Stadium on Sunday.

KOTA KINABALU (March 27): Rozaimie Abd Rahman scored the only goal in the Sabah Cup 2022 Grand Final for Safa Tuaran to defeat Safa Tawau at the Likas Stadium on Sunday.

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The former state and national striker smashed the ball home from close range in the 62nd minute.
Safa Tuaran received RM30,000 as winners as well as lifting the Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Hajiji Haji Noor Trophy. Runners-up Safa Tawau received RM20,000.

Community Development and People’s Wellbeing Minister Datuk Shahelmey Yahya, who was representing the Chief Minister, presented the prizes.

President of Safa Tuaran, Datuk Kassim Razali, was proud of the achievement of the squad that featured the likes of former Rhinos Mafry Balang, Zuraindey Jumai, Jufrey Omopor, Ronny Harun and Julamri Muhammad.

“As the president of Safa Tuaran district, I’m very proud that we manage to win the tournament for the first time ever.

“It was an entertaining game and the fans were treated to a good game of football,” he said after the prize presentation.

As for Safa Tawau, the president Datuk Hj Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan said the youthful squad should not be discouraged after the defeat, especially when they were up against a team strengthened by former state footballers.

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“I was informed Safa Tuaran have many footballers who have played at state and national level but Safa Tawau with many young local talents were able to match them, so for that I’m very proud of the team.

“We were unlucky actually to face them but then again, our players gave their best … we will continue to make progress with our young players,” said Nizam.

Eight teams competed in the Grand Final of Sabah Cup after they won their qualifying zones vying for the Chief Minister’s Cup.

Safa Tuaran and Safa Tawau topped their respective group in the Grand Final to set up the meeting in the final.

Meanwhile, Sabah Football Association (Safa) deputy president Datuk Juil Nuatim praised the Local Competitions Committee headed by Azman Mastar for a job well done in organising the tournament.

Juil said the state FA would continue to hold more tournaments to unearth new talents for the development of Sabah football.

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“Safa had previously held the BMR Cup (under-18) tournament and now the Sabah Cup. The plan is to organise the Inter-Club and the Safa League.

“We may make some adjustment though, maybe to organise the future tournaments before the start of Malaysia League.

“It is one of the best platforms to select new players … maybe the potential players can play in the (senior) league, junior team or even in M3 League,” he told reporters after the prize presentation.

Criticizing players after one or two matches is unfair, says Sabah FC head coach

 Borneo Post

POSTED ON MARCH 10, 2022, THURSDAY AT 10:57 AMFOOTBALL, SPORTS

Datuk Ong Kim Swee – Bernama photo

KOTA KINABALU (March 10): Criticising players excessively after one or two matches is an unfair act and does not help in developing the Sabah FC team, said its head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee.

Instead, he said, every player of The Rhinos, especially imported players, should be given enough time to adjust and improve their performance to ensure the team is able to maintain its performance until the end of the season.

Citing  import striker Neto Pessoa as an example, he said the player was heavily criticised when he missed the opportunity to score a goal through a penalty kick in the first match of the Super League, but was able to improve his performance and score in the (second) match last night.

“But in the next match, if Neto (Pessoa) does not score a goal, l will he be criticised again? For me, every player should be given time, even if they are quality players, time should be given to the team.

“I believe this team will improve from time to time, only time will tell, but to criticise players only after one or two games I think is unfair, I think players should be given a chance,” he told a press conference here last night.

He was met after the Super League match at the Likas Stadium last night, which saw Sabah beat PJ City FC 3-1, with Pessoa scoring the second goal in the 35th minute through a header with a corner kick from Baddrol Bakhtiar.

Meanwhile, PJ City head coach P. Maniam said the failure of his men to restrain Sabah players in a dead ball situation was one of the reasons for the team’s defeat last night and that they would improve the game, especially in terms of ‘player marking’.

“Import players, in particular, they are capable of playing well in that situation and our players have been reminded, but the marking is not there, anyway we cannot blame anybody. This is a marathon, only two matches and we will improve the weaknesses for the next match, ” he said.

Sabah will face Respect FC this Saturday (March 12), while PJ City will face Kelantan FC this Sunday (March 13) for the FA Cup. – Bernama

SABAH FC WASPADA PJ CITY

 MFL

March 9, 2022

Kekalahan kepada Negeri Sembilan FC pada minggu lalu menjadi pengajaran berguna buat Sabah FC
untuk memperbaiki ketajaman penyudah dalam menghadapi aksi seterusnya bertemu PJ City FC, pada Rabu.

Bagi ketua jurulatih Sabah FC, Datuk Ong Kim Swee, beliau melihat jika sesuatu pasukan itu gagal menggunakan peluang yang terhidang, perkara itu akan berikan keyakinan serta kelebihan kepada pihak lawan.

Justeru, beliau mengharapkan skrip yang sama tidak berulang di Stadium Likas dengan PJ City atau mereka bakal berputih mata sekali lagi di laman sendiri.

“Jika lihat semasa berdepan Negeri Sembilan tempoh hari, kami banyak mengawal permainan dan cipta peluang, tetapi sayangnya satu pun tidak dapat disempurnakan termasuk sepakan penalti.

“Situasi itu berikan keyakinan kepada pihak lawan apabila mereka menyerang dn kita dihukum, jadi saya tidak mahu perkara sama ketika berdepan PJ City.

“Walaupun mereka terdiri 100 peratus pemain tempatan namun perlu diingatkan majoriti mereka sudah bermain bersama selama tiga tahun selain punyai ramai bekas pemain kebangsaan.

“Malah mereka bermain tanpa sebarang tekanan dalam semua perlawanan dan sentiasa mahu buktikan yang mereka boleh bersaing biarpun tanpa pemain import.

“Kami tidak boleh memandang rendah akan kemampuan PJ City yang saya tidak boleh nafikan kekuatan utama mereka adalah disiplin dalam kalangan semua pemain semasa menyerang dan bertahan,” katanya.

Berbeza dengan Sabah, PJ City bermula dengan langkah kanan apabila menewaskan Melaka United FC, 1-0 di Stadium Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya menerusi jaringan S. Kumaahran.

Rekod pertemuan musim lalu memihak kepada PJ City yang menang dua dari empat perlawanan namun aksi terakhir dimenangi Sabah pada peringkat kumpulan TM Piala Malaysia yang ketika itu telah dikendalikan Kim Swee melalui keputusan 1-0.

Dalam pada itu, Kim Swee mengharapkan peminat Sabah mampu bersabar dengan kemampuan pemain-pemain baharu terutamanya penyerang dari Brazil, Neto Pessoa.

“Semua pemain masih memerlukan masa untuk serasi kerana ini kali pertama mereka bermain bersama-samadan beri mereka ruang kerana akan lebih banyak perlawanan yang kita akan lalui nanti.

“Seperti Neto, dia memang hendak menjaringkan gol tetapi tidak dapat berbuat demikian dan kalau hendak mengkritik dia hanya berdasarkan satu perlawanan, saya rasa tidak adil.

“Kita akan tengok dari dua hingga empat perlawanan bagaimana prestasinya dan jika dia gagal menyinar, barulah darisitu mungkin boleh difikirkan sesuatu,” katanya.

Saksikan siaran langsung perlawanan Sabah FC lwn PJ City FC bermula jam 7.30 malam di unifiTV 704, unifi playTV dan YouTube unifi.

Kim Swee denies overlooking local players

 Borneo Post

POSTED ON MARCH 8, 2022, TUESDAY AT 5:27 PM

SABAH, SPORTS

Datuk Ong Kim Swee

KOTA KINABALU (Mar 8): Datuk Ong Kim Swee has rejected claims that he overlooked the local footballers when it comes to naming his preferred starting line-up in the Malaysian League challenge.

The Sabah FC head coach, who is preparing the squad for the Super League home tie against PJ City FC on March 9, stressed the selection of his preferred 11 was done after assessing the players’ ability and certainly not because of favouring a particular footballer.

“When I assembled the new-look Sabah FC squad, that I must play the local (Sabahan) footballers or wherever the players come from is a non-issue.

“What’s important to me is that if the players are fully ready to play, they will be given the chance or be in the starting line-up.

“The players must understand that they are not playing for themselves but to give their utmost best playing and fighting for the Sabah FC badge they wear on their chest.

“It (selection of players) is not a major issue for me … except may be for some who deliberately started the problem that disrupted the team in the Malaysian League campaign,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Kim Swee made the remark after a small group of Sabah FC supporters voiced their disappointment with the squad selection in the opening game of the season against Negeri Sembilan FC in Likas last week.

In the match that the Rhinos lost 1-0, there was not a single Sabahan footballers in the starting line-up and when the head coach decided to make substitution, the four local players named in the matchday squad remained on the bench.

Meanwhile, Kim Swee when commenting on Wednesday’s game at the Likas Stadium said the opponents PJ City FC are an all-local players squad who have done well in their opening game where they defeated Melaka United FC 1-0.

“We know that PJ City FC have the same players for around three years and they showed they can achieve the desired result even without the services of foreign imports.

“It will be another tough assignment for us because I think PJ City are a very good team,” he said.

On his starting line-up, Kim Swee said he had retained several several players who performed well in the season opener.

“We all know PJ City FC have some very experienced players including K. Gurusamy, Darren Lok, S. Kumaahran and Mahali Jasuli.

“They are all former national players who can still contribute a lot at the big stage.

“For Sabah FC, I believe whoever gets the nod will give their best for the team.

“We must not lose focus but to fight until the final whistle. We have to get a positive result against PJ City FC,” said Kim Swee.

The other Super League matches on Wednesday will see Terengganu FC taking on Negeri Sembilan FC, Kedah DA FC against Kuala Lumpur City FC and Johor Darul Ta’zim to host Sarawak United FC.