VICTORY THE ONLY OPTION

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah, who are walking on a tight rope to qualify for a place in the last eight of the Malaysia Cup, are on a do-or-die mission when they take on Johor FC in a Group B clash at the Jcorp Stadium in Pasir Gudang tonight. Only a victory will keep their slim hopes alive.

For this reason, Rahman Zakaria reminded his charges to put aside their recent disappointment against Kuala Lumpur – a match that was full of drama, controversy and blunders. It was the 1-2 defeat against Kuala Lumpur that put a dent in Sabah’s quarterfinal hopes. Rahman hopes the team will be at their best against Johor FC.

“No matter what the team’s position is and what had happened previously, our aim is to try to win the game,” the Rhinos’ team manager said.

“It is part and parcel of the game and I want the players to concentrate and not let other events distract them. “A victory will be important to improve our record in the group but even so, we may not know what will transpire after the game. Now it is important for us to do our part and not to worry about whether we will make it. “Football is a funny old game and anything can still happen. Furthermore, there are another three games to play including against Johor FC,” he said.

Rahman also expressed his concern on fatigue where the traveling and tight schedule have affected the players. Rahman also said that missing several key players is hampering the team’s campaign.

According to him, striker Salvester Sindeh is suspended, while Zuraindey Jumai only added to the growing list of injured players in the squad. “I hope those who are injured will recover quickly. A lot can happen in three matches and we must take the chances, but anyway we will take one game at a time,” he added.

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Overall Top scorers (20 Goals Above)

#	Name	Year Active	Goals
1	Scott Ollerenshaw	1994-1997	106
2	Matlan Marjan	1989-1995	57
3	Suharmin Yusuf	1996-2002	51
4	Zainizam Marjan	2000-Present	42
5	Josiah Seton	2002-2004	38
6	Julio Cesar	2005-2006	32
7	Milomir Seslija	1993-1997	31
8	Jaya Kassim	1996-2000	28
9	Charles Obi	2006-2007	26
10	Shahrin Majid	2001-2002	24
11	Harun Laban	1993-1999	21
12	Keith Gumbs	2003-2004	21
13	Bobby Gonzales	2003-2008	20

last updated:9 jan 09 ,


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RHINOS WANT REMATCH

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah will lodge an official protest and would insist on a rematch against Kuala Lumpur in the Malaysia Cup Group B challenge.

Rahman Zakaria said they will write to the FA of Malaysia (FAM) pertaining to the matter sooner rather than later.

The Rhinos’ team manager who was clearly upset, furious and disappointed with the whole incident, blamed the match official – Abu Bakar Mohd’s – failure in handling the tie professionally for the fracas – that was won 2-1 by the visiting Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

“So many unusual incidents took place on the field and we have strong grounds to make an appeal (for a rematch),” said Rahman.

“It’s not that we cannot accept defeat, but this is not the way,” he added.

The match turned ugly in the 75th minute when Sabah’s striker David Njoku was involved in a commotion with the Kuala Lumpur players, and the lanky Nigerian was alleged to have been slapped by a Kuala Lumpur player.

More and more players from both sides were getting involved and things got worse minutes later.

Sabah’s Salvester Sindeh was the first to have been shown the red card before Kuala Lumpur’s goalkeeper Mohd Shafiz faced a similiar fate seconds later.

The match official’s failure to handle the match professionally could have turned the night into a free-for-all.

Fortunately, the fight only involved Salvester and Kuala Lumpur’s Hasnol Hamzah who should have been sent off as well, but the latter was left unpunished.

To make it worse for Abu Bakar, he even allowed Kuala Lumpur to play with 11 men despite already sending off Mohd Shahfiz.

“We admit we were trailing 2-1 due to the fault of our players until the 73rd minute, but after that nothing went right on the part of the match official,” said Rahman.

“He just failed to control the emotions of the players and that prompted the whole incident to take place.

The referee only realised his blunder after about 10 minutes after being informed by the fourth official following a protest by Sabah.

However, it was too late as the match had entered into five minutes of injury time.

Mohd Shuhaimi (No 17) was supposed to be replaced by Saiful, but when the match resumed he was still seen on the field.

Rahman said that to give five minutes of additional time was also unfair as the match was stopped for more than 10 minutes.

“I hope the FAM will seriously look into our request or complaint,” he said.

On Mohd Salawi Jasad’s blunder that gifted Kuala Lumpur an equaliser, Rahman said this will be his (Mohd Salawi) nightmare and hopes it will be a lesson for the youngster.

Sabah took the lead in the 57th minute through Zainizam Marjan’s header off a cross by Salvester Sindeh only for Yong Kuong Yong to equalise for Kuala Lumpur a minute later after capitalising on a blunder by Mohd Salawi.

Yong then put Kuala Lumpur into the lead in the 73rd minute after slotting home from close range after defeating Irwan Jamil.

And Rahman refused to put the blamed solely on Mohd Salawi, adding that the whole squad should share the blame.

Sabah could have sealed the game in the first half, but were denied by poor finishing.

With the defeat, if it stays, Sabah are walking on a tightrope in their quest for a place in the quarter-finals. Sabah’s next game is an away date with Johor FC on June 12.

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FIGOS BORNEO FOOTBALL CUP

DIRECTOR
Andy Paschaidis
Scott Ollerenshaw (Sabah 94-97)(106Goals)

VENUE:
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, East Malaysia (Malaysian Borneo)

DATE:
27th September 2008 til 31st October 2008

AGE GROUPS:
Under 12s,14s,16s,18s, Mens/Womans Open & Borneo 7s (over 40s)

TEAM CATEGORY:
Any Amateur Teams

TOURNAMENT VENUE:
Likas Stadium & Penampang Stadium, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, East Malaysia (Malaysian Borneo)

For Futher Informatin visit the website

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A NIGHT OF DRAMA

KOTA KINABALU: It was a night full of drama and controversy at the Likas Stadium!

And it looks like the Rhinos are heading towards the exit in the Malaysia Cup challenge. This is thanks to its young custodian, Mohd Salawi Jasad, who threw away with what could have been a certain victory for the home side.

The fault also lies on the referee, Abu Bakar Mohd Noor, whose failure to handle the game almost triggered a free-for-all between both sides.

It was fortunate that only one or two players were involved in the match which ended in Kuala Lumpur’s favour who walked away with a 2-1 victory–no thank you to a gifted goal by Mohd Salawi.

While the game was not at its highest level, one cannot deny that the standard of refereeing was certainly at its lowest ebb as Abu Bakar’s poor decisions just made the whole affair even worst.

Both sides ended their night with a man less as Sabah’s Salvester Sindeh and Kuala Lumpur goalkeeper Mohd Shahfiz Amri Zaini were deservedly given the marching orders in the 75th minute after being involved in a commotion.

But it was after the ref who flashed the red card on Salvester which begun the unwanted incident.

It came about as Salvester was seen walking off the field and a Kuala Lumpur player, Hasnol Hamzah, was seen to provoke the Rhinos’ striker and that was when the fight started. Salvester was seen kicking and was trying to punch the player (Hasnol) who later ran to towards the bench for his safety.

The whole incident which lasted for a full 10 minutes, started with Sabah’s Nigerian striker David Njoku who was allegedly slapped by a Kuala Lumpur player and that player went unpunished.

As for Mohd Shahfiz, he was punished for pushing Salvester from behind and was later involved in a commotion before running towards the bench.

The controversy did not end there as a blunder by Abu Bakar allowed Kuala Lumpur to play with 11-men despite having their keeper sent off. It was only after about 10 minutes that the referee realised his mistake after being alerted by a fourth official Abdul Harun Osman!

But by then it was already too late, as Kuala Lumpur only played with 10 men in the dying seconds of the game.

It was certainly not a night to remember for Mohd Salawi, who had a good game in the Rhinos 1-0 victory over Penang in their last game.

What was seen as a time-wasting tactic by the youngster saw him gifted Kuala Lumpur with an equaliser in the 58th minute when Yong Kuong Yong stole the ball from his (Salawi) feet before slotting home into an empty net.

The incident saw Salawi, who was shocked by the blunder, was seen to feign injury and was subsequently being replaced Irwan Jamil.

A minute earlier, Zainizam had put the Rhinos in the lead with a header of a cross by Salvester. Yong was on target again in the 73rd minute after finishing off his second goal from close range.

In fact the home side could have sealed the match in the first half but was denied by poor finishing with Bobby Gonzales who was one of the culprits, by missing two sitters. The first being in the 18th minute when he poked the ball from close range that went wide. Then in the 27th minute, he squandered another opportunity when he failed to finish off a Mohd Radzi Hussin cross after his attempt from the six yard box went above the bar.

Dragic Dalibor, who was certainly the man of the match for the Rhinos, saw his header go inches above the bar while Salvester Sindeh’s effort also went wide.

David also saw his shot from just outside the box went inches above the cross bar.

Wong Sai Kong, Zainizam Marjan, and David as well as Dragic all shots at the Kuala Lumpur goalmouth, but the much needed equaliser never did materialise as their attempt either went wide or was saved by Mohd Shahfiz’s replacement Saiful Amar.

On the night the Salawi blunder was just unacceptable for many, as it was all Sabah affair before the unfortunate incident.

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Sabah vs KL (Full Time)

Malaysia Cup Group B 09 July 2008

	Home	Score	Away
	Sabah	1-2	Kuala Lumpur
		Scorer
57'	Zainizam	1-0
		1-1	Yong	59'
		1-2	Yong	73'

Sabah Lines-up

Mohd Salawi Jasad(Irwan Jamil), Munir Amran, Dragic Dalibor, Wong Sai Kong, Eddie Gapil, Zuraindey Jumai(Radzi Husin), Hishamuddin Othman, Zainizam Marjan, David Njuko, Bobby Gonzales(Andre Scotti), Sylvester Sindeh

Yellow Card: Munir Amran, Eddie Gapil, Dragic Dalibor
Red Card: Sylvester Sindeh
-

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UNFAIR!

KOTA KINABALU: Is the ongoing Malaysia Cup being played fairly?

The answer (is) as far as Sabah Chief Coach Drago Mamic is concerned a definite NO!

“How can it be fair when certain teams are allowed to postpone their matches and some not,” Drago questioned.

The Croatian was fuming when he heard of the postponement of two matches involving the Group B teams – Kedah vs Penang and Johor FC vs Police.

He sees the postponement as something irregular in the football world, especially in a competition like the Malaysia Cup.

“This (postponement) is ridiculous! I have never seen this, because if you are talking about fairness to all the teams, all matches must be played on schedule without any postponement.

“If in any case the organiser decides to make any changes on the request of any particular team, the decision must reflect on fair play.

“The way the competition is being handled, I don’t see any fair play or fairness at all.

“For instance, in our case, they could have postponed all matches involving the group.

“Now our opponents are having more time to recover, while we have to go down to the battlefield with less time to recover from the hectic schedule.

“Furthermore, if we look at the standings, it is only fair for each and every of the teams in our group to be given equal treatment because I think the fight for a place in the quarter-finals is still very much open to all the teams.

“And if there is any team that wishes to ask for any postponement, Sabah should be the one as we have more reasons to ask for it because we spend more time on traveling than any of the other teams in the group,” Drago said.

Sabah take on Kuala Lumpur at the Likas Stadium tonight, while Kedah, Penang, Johor FC and Police are having a day off until the next scheduled matches, slated for July 12.

The postponed matches are expected to be played later this month.

On a positive note, Drago was delighted to see that the team have progressed tremendously of late.

He said that the team have shown superb performances in their last few games.

“The team have started to show their true colours. Against Penang, we were playing like a European outfit. We created chance after chance but we were just unfortunate to score only once.

“The team’s movement on the field was superb and I’m not surprised that even the home (Penang) fans applauded them (Sabah),” he said.

“So now I’m very much looking forward to the Kuala Lumpur clash.

“But as much as I want to win the game and wanting the team to maintain their superb form, but we have to see how the team react to the fatigue of having to play six games in 16 days.

“Playing six matches in 16 days is a terrible experience for any club. Even a car cannot move without gas … what more to say a human being, who certainly needs time to recover from all this fatigue.

“Nevertheless, I’m so proud to see the team being able to play at the highest level.

Drago hopes the team will continue to play superb football with the greatest fighting spirit, commitment and dedication.

“It is important for the team to maintain the way they have been playing. We must keep up the quality of our game.

Tonight, Drago hinted that he is likely to stick to his winning side that notched a 1-0 victory over Penang.

With the exception of defender Ahmad Tharmini Saiban, the rest of the players are likely to be retained.

Tharmini will miss the Kuala Lumpur clash after receiving his third yellow card and would serve an automatic one-match suspension.

Drago said he will stick to rookie custodian – the young Mohd Salawi Jasad as his ball stopper – with Dragic Dalibor, Mohd Munir Amran, Wong Sai Kong and Hishamuddin Othman at the Rhinos’ backline.

In midfield, Eddy Gapil, Zuraindey Jumai and either Chow Chee Wing or Zainizam Marjan will get the nod, while David Njoku, Salvester Sindeh and Bobby Gonzales will all see action as Drago plots an all-out attacking game.

“I’m still unsure whether Zainizam or Chow will be fit for the clash. I have to wait and see. I rested both of them in our last game. They have been playing superb, but the hectic fixture schedule is taking its toll on them because they do a lot of sprints during matches.

“I’m also without Mohd Nafuzi because he is having inflammation on his tendon (ankle), but I think I will still put him in the squad for the clash,” added Drago.

The rest of the players still in the crocked list are Rosdin Wasli, Andre Scotti Ossemer, Henry Parsi, and Hardy Charles Parsi.

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