PROMOTION MAIN TARGET

KOTA KINABALU: The new season has yet to kick-off, but Rahman Zakaria has already set his target on promotion, predicting that the upcoming season could end well for the Rhinos.

After two failed attempts in their bid to claim promotion to the Super League, the Rhinos team manager believes this time around they will surely be there to fight for promotion as well as for any title at stake in the M-League.

“It has been two frustrating seasons for us, but I can see that this squad has what it takes to make Sabah proud,” said Rahman.

“We have young and experienced players in the squad, and compared to last year, I would say that this time we have a much more balanced side.

“Besides recruiting new players, our youngsters will also be one year older and this will surely be a big plus for the team,” he added.

When met at the Rhinos’ friendly against Kota Belud Selection over the weekend, Rahman went on to say that they have strong local players as well as local imports.

He said the presence of three foreign imports would only add the much needed strength or rather spice into the team.

At the moment, he said Bosnia-Herzegovina defender Dragic Dalibor is the only import player that is almost certain to don the Rhinos colours for the new season, while the other two will only be known at the earliest by next weekend as the FA is still waiting for the arrival of two or three more foreign strikers, including one striker from Serbia.

On the local front, Rahman said it is a done deal, with Eddie Gapil, former Beverly FC midfielder Zuraindey Jumai, Hisamuddin, Nafuzi Zain and Wong Sai Kong the latest addition to the squad.

The rest are from last season’s squad – namely Irwan Jamil, Munir Amran, Chow Chee Wing, Rosdin Wasli, Zulamri Muhammad, Bobby Gonzalez, Mohd Radzi Hussin, Harold John, Azrul Ejati Damsah, Zainizam Marjan, Salvester Sindeh, Henry Parsi, Hardy Charles Parsi, Rezuan Muhammad Radzy, Ahmad Tharmini Saiban, David Johnny and Ebby Roy Raimon.

Currently there is only one foreign player left trying his luck with the team – striker Obasi Churchil Emmanuel.

Obasi scored two goals including one from the spot in the game where the Rhinos won 4-1.

But whether his feat is good enough to land him a contract with the team – only time will tell.

“It was a good friendly,” said Rahman. “Although we were playing a relatively unknown side, but at least it helps us rectify whatever weaknesses there are in the team.”

Kota Belud Selection stunned the Rhinos when they took the lead inside the first quarter of the game.

But Bobby Gonzalez scored the equaliser for his side from close range, before Radzi Hussin put them in front with a cool finish late in the first half which ended 2-1 in favour of the State team.

Then after the break, Obasi struck the third goal for Sabah from the spot before netting his second soon afterwards.

Rahman said next they will take on DPMM in Labuan in a tie that has been rescheduled to Nov 4 instead of Nov 3 initially.

After the DPMM date, Rahman said the Rhinos will play an Indonesian club in Tawau on Nov 10.

“On behalf of the Sabah FA as well as the team, I would like to thank the Safa Kota Belud headed by Asrin Sadi for making this match possible.

“We would also like to thank the fans for their presence. The response was pretty encouraging, and we were delighted to see them,” said Rahman.

Outgoing Sabah FA President Datuk Anifah Aman was among the more than 3,000 spectators at the Kota Belud Town Padang.

Others present were Assistant Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk Japlin Akim and Kota Belud District Officer Najib Muntok as well as other community leaders.

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Rare treat for Rhinos fans in Kota Belud

KOTA KINABALU: Fans in and around Kota Belud have been urged to turn up in full force when the Rhinos take on the Kota Belud Selection in a friendly at the Kota Belud Town Padang at 4.15pm today.

Team manager Rahman Zakaria said this is an opportunity for the fans in and around the district to see their team in action in their own backyard.

With Sabah’s home matches in the upcoming season likely to be played away from their usual hunting ground – the Likas Stadium – at least until January next year due to the faulty floodlights at the Stadium, this will only make this friendly tie not one to be missed!

Besides being used as part of their preparations for the new season, Rahman pointed out that another reason for them having the friendly in Kota Belud is to try to win the hearts of the fans.

“This is one of the few friendly matches outside the State Capital that we are going to play. After this we plan to go to Labuan and then either Keningau or Tenom.

“We might also go to Ranau or even Sandakan. But at the moment, only two venues have been finalised and that is Kota Belud and Labuan (taking on DPPM of Brunei on Nov 3).

Rahman said this will be the team that would mount their challenge for the new season.

“We are expecting our head coach (Drago Mamic) to parade his best squad at least for the first 45 minutes.

“At the same time, we are also trying out one or two foreign imports in the match,” he added.

The Rhinos are also likely to unveil a few new local imports in the match such as Nafuzi Zain of Kelantan, Wong Sai Kong of Perak, and Nizamuddin, who was formerly playing for KL Plus.

Besides the new local imports, Rahman said the rest of the players will also make the trip to Kota Belud as they will be holding a meet-the-player session to be held at the Sabah F2000 World Cup Powerboat Race 2007 booth.

Rahman said the meet-the-player session will be held from 3pm.

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MADZALAN SNUBS RHINOS

KOTA KINABALU: Madzalan Emoi has stunned his own State by turning his back on the Rhinos, despite the fact that he has verbally agreed to don the Rhinos colours for the new season.

Instead the lanky player is now heading South and looks set to sign for Super League outfit Johor FC. Madzalan could not be reached for comment, but the Rhinos team manager Rahman Zakaria when contacted said that it is very unlikely that Madzalan would play for the State for the new season.

“He has been missing training for the last two or three days. We believe that he has received offers elsewhere and from the information that we gathered, he is in Johor now,” Rahman said.

“It is a pity that he decided not to sign for the team, but it was his choice and there is nothing much we can do. “We have done our part. We knew he was looking for a new team, and we welcomed him for trials.

“He showed us during the last one or two weeks that he still had the desire to play for the State so we offered him a contract. “I can say that it was a good offer. We thought that he would sign for us considering that he is now at the end of his career. “So one of the reasons why we decided to offer him a contract is because when he decides to retire we may offer him something like what we have offered several of our players such as Khairul (Azman), Burhan (Ajui) and Henry (Soimpon),” said Rahman, referring to the trio who have now been given a coaching job with the State team.

But now it seems that this is going to be the end of his relationship with the team as his action certainly does more harm than good. The last two seasons, Madzalan donned Perlis colours, but was among those dropped by the Perlis FA for the new season. In a related development, Rahman said that they have also decided to offer a contract to a former KL Plus flanker only known as Hisamuddin. The stout player will be the seventh local import to strengthen the Rhinos after Chow Chee Wing, Ahmad Tharmini Saiban, Rezuan Muhammad Radzy, Munir Amran, Wong Sai Kong and Nafuzi Zain.

Meanwhile, Rahman also said that the head coach Drago Mamic, who has been doing great in preparing the team for the new season, is likely to parade the best squad when Sabah take on the Kota Belud Selection in a friendly on Sunday. The match will be played at the Kota Belud town field with the kick-off scheduled for 4.15pm.

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SABAH FA MULLS APPEALING TO PM

KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah FA is considering appealing to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to allow Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Anifah Aman to remain as its president.

Its executive secretary Harry Baking said here yesterday that the Sabah FA would hold a meeting at the end of November with representatives of all its six zones, namely Tawau, Sandakan, West Coast, Beaufort, Kudat and Keningau, to decide whether it should make an appeal.

“If they disagree (to make an appeal), then we will discuss his (Anifah) successor.”

Meanwhile, when contacted by New Sabah Times Sport yesterday, Anifah said he would be very busy as the Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities and also the Kimanis Member of Parliament, but would not mind to act as an advisor for the FA.

Harry also said that the contracts of players for the next season of the Malaysian League would be signed in a couple of weeks’ time.

“We have identified some of the local players but have not decided on the foreign players.

“We are looking at a Nigerian striker who has been training (here) for about two weeks now, while a Brazilian midfielder will arrive soon for trials.”

However, Harry said Bosnian defender Dragic Dalidor, who signed with the team late last season, would probably don Sabah colours for the next season.

Meanwhile, Nigerian striker Charles Obi, who emerged as the team’s top scorer last season with 25 goals and who is now away on holiday, will return soon.

“However, his contract extension is subject to a medical examination as he is recuperating from a broken arm after being involved in a car accident,” said Harry.

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Safa mulls appealing to PM

Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Football Association (Safa) is considering appealing to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to allow Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Anifah Aman to remain as its president.

When contacted, its executive secretary Harry Baking said here Thursday that Safa would hold a meeting at the end of November with representatives of all its six zones, namely Tawau, Sandakan, West Coast, Beaufort, Kudat and Keningau, to decide whether it should make an appeal.

"If they disagree (to make an appeal), then we will discuss his (Anifah) successor."

Harry also said that the contracts of players for the next season of the Malaysian League would be signed in a couple of weeks' time.

"We have identified some of the local players but have not decided on the foreign players.

"We are looking at a Nigerian striker who has been training (here) for about two weeks now, while a Brazilian midfielder will arrive soon for trials."

However, Harry said Bosnian defender Dragic Dalidor, who signed with the team late last season, would probably don Sabah colours for the next season.

Meanwhile, Nigerian striker Charles Obi, who emerged as the team's top scorer last season with 25 goals and who is now away on holiday, will return soon.

"However, his contract extension is subjected to a medical examination as he is recuperating from a broken arm after being involved in a car accident," said Harry. - Bernama

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FOUR EX-RHINOS SET FOR COMEBACK

KOTA KINABALU: Four ex-Rhinos are likely to make a comeback and don State colours once again.

The foursome – Madzalan Emoi, Zuraindey Jumai, Eddie Gapil and Sumardi Hajalan – are expected to be offered contracts with the team.

The trio are believed to be in talks with the team management. However, at press time nothing has been finalised.

With the exception of Sumardi Hajalan who is currently on national duty, both Madzalan and Zuraindey are currently in training with the squad under head coach Drago Mamic.

Team manager Rahman Zakaria confirmed that they are in talks with all the three players, but refused to go into detail.

He said: “We will surely give them a chance, but they must prove and show us that they deserve a place in the State squad.”

“They also have to look after their discipline on and off the pitch. We have a high discipline standard in the squad. And we will surely not want shirkers to ruin what has been a good set up in the team at the moment,” Rahman added.

For the record, Madzalan donned Perlis colours the last two seasons, while Eddie played for Police.

As for Sumardi, he left Sabah to play for Johor FC in the just concluded season, while Zuraindey joined Beverly FC after he left the State team in the early 2000s.

Besides the foursome, two other new faces that are expected to beef up the squad are two local imports, namely Wong Sai Kong and Nafuzi Zain.

The existing players are David Johnny, Ebby Roy Raimon, Rosdin Wasli, Zainizam Marjan, Bobby Gonzales, Azrul Ejati Damsah, Hardy Charles Parsi, Mohd Radzi Hussin, Zulamri Muhammad, Henry Parsi, Harold John, Irwan Jamil, Chow Chee Wing, Ahmad Tharmini Saiban, Rezuan Muhammad Radzy, Munir Amran, and Salvester Sindeh.

The Rhinos are expected to pen their contracts with the Sabah FA before the kick off on November 19.

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WELL BELOW PAR

KOTA KINABALU: The Rhinos are still searching for top foreign signings to strengthen its squad for the new season that is expected to kick off about one month from today.

Although more than half a dozen foreign players have turned up for trials with the team, but it seems that none of these players – from Cameroon, Nigeria as well as from Brazil – have impressed the team selectors, including head coach Drago Mamic. Time may be running out fast ahead of the kick-off (Premier League) on November 19, but Drago insists he will not settle for any foreign players just for the sake of completing the foreign quota (three) in the team. “I would rather opt not to play with foreign players if we cannot find any quality players who can fit into the team. “These players or player must show us that they are a class above the rest of the locals that we have. If they can’t do that I don’t see any logic why we should sign them.

“Without any disrespect to those who have come, I’m sorry to say that most of the local players that we have are better than them,” said Drago. The Rhinos are looking for either one or two more foreign players to beef up the team. Bosnian defender Dragic Dalidor is the only foreign signing who is almost certain to don the State colours again after signing for the team late last season. He is expected to arrive here within the next one or two days.

Nigerian striker Charles Obi, who emerged as the team’s top scorer last season with 25 goals in all competitions, is also set to continue his ties with the team. However, his contract extension will very much depend on his recovery as he is now recuperating from a broken arm after being involved in a car accident. If he passes the medical, then he would be retained for another season. If this is the case then Sabah will need to look for the third foreign signing. Assistant team manager Firdaus Datuk Anifah Aman said that there are two or three more foreign players coming to attend trials with the Rhinos, including former Flamengo striker Flavio Barros Souza Nascimento (check him out – YouTube)

“We know time is running out fast, but we will make sure that we will sign the right players for the team,” said Firdaus. “We have no worry as far as the hiring or signing of foreign players is concerned. We have Dragic coming and we hope Obi will make it too, so obviously this does not concern us.

“We will keep searching until we find the quality foreign player in question. The Rhinos played their first friendly match of the season against a local club side – BAT 21 – at the Penampang Stadium yesterday. They cruised to a 3-0 victory over the relatively unknown side. But the result is not what Drago is looking at as he let the players play with freedom or rather their best.

The four foreign players attending trials with the team were also tested, but with the exception of a Nigerian striker, the remaining three are likely to pack their bags.

As for the Nigerian, he is expected to be given more time to prove his worth.

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