Sarawak will fight for the second position in Group C to qualify for quarter final of the Malaysia Cup.
“On the paper, Kelantan should finish top in the group, Johor FC second, Felda United third and Sarawak fourth, all three of them are stronger than Sarawak, but we will fight and spring some surprise,” Coach Robert Alberts, said in a telephone interview from Kuala Lumpur.
The team training will start at 5pm today and Alberts knew his boys have to work very hard against the best team in the country.
“Kelantan are the best team in the country, they have the best strikers, defenders, midfielders and goalkeeper – they invest in the team, have the best salaries and spent money to get the best players,” he said.
On Johor FC, Alberts said the Club is a very strong team with a lot of individual players who are very good but sadly at times can be very unpredictable as shown in the Super League.
On Felda United, Alberts said the team was doing very well in the first round of Super League, a very organised team that start attack from their defence system.
“Felda is very strong but sadly they did not do very well in the second round of the Super League,” he observed, depriving the team from a good standings.
Being an underdog team, with all three stronger teams in the group, Alberts said they would fight for second position.
“In Malaysia Cup, we cannot afford to drop points as it involves very few matches,” he stressed, adding that home or away match will not be seeing big crowd except in Kelantan.
Alberts said playing in Malaysia Cup is a bonus for the team because they have achieved their target of qualifying to the Super League.
“Malaysia Cup will be a very good experience for next year’s Super League. It is a very good motivation for the players to play in Malaysia Cup and to show the fans their capacity,” he said.
Alberts is very happy with the home crowd support for the team in Premier League where 3,000 to 4,000 fans showed up on weekdays despite the team having to play in the afternoon.
“Many are telling us they want to come and support but could not because they have to work. Hopefully by playing at nights, we can see 2,000 to 3,000 more people would come to support the team,” he said.
Alberts is optimistic that the fans would be supporting Sarawak in Malaysia Cup but that depend on the team performance.
“Our players would be giving their everything, the fans would see that from our players, and they would come again regardless of win or lose. The fans want the team to do their best and they would come to support,” he said.
Alberts said Shahrizam Mohd and Hamidin Manap are still recuperating from operations due knee injuries, and Sarawak would be bringing in two Angkatan Tentera Malaysia players Chung Keng Hong and Jaganathan Arputharajoo.
“Bobby Gonzales is our topscorer in the team now but we will be playing much stronger opponent in Malaysia Cup. I am sure he can score more goals but he need support from other players too,” Alberts said.
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