Perak to appeal Zayar Win red card

GEORGE TOWN: Perak want to appeal against their Myanmar midfielder Kyaw Zayar Win’s sending off during the 1-0 Super League defeat to Armed Forces at the Selayang Stadium.

Zayar Win was given the marching orders together with Forces’ Hafizi Zainal in the final minute of regulation time on Tuesday after both players got into an altercation.

Perak coach Abu Bakar Fadzim is adamant that Zayar Win did not commit anything that would have warranted a straight red card, which will see him suspended for the next two matches.

“Perak intend to appeal against Zayar Win’s sacking. We have video evidence of him defending himself while being pushed by the opposing player.

There was no physical reaction towards the other player ... so, I don’t understand why the referee sent Zayar Win off when he was the victim in the incident,” said Abu Bakar on Wednesday.

Despite holding their own against the formidable Armed Forces side, Perak were undone by Argentine Juan Manuel Arostegui’s 18th-minute goal.

“Losing due to minor errors has been the story of Perak’s season so far. Despite having a young squad, we are able to challenge the elite teams in the league. But lapses in concentration have seen us lose two out of our three league matches so far,” said Abu Bakar.

“On Tuesday, we failed to clear the ball quickly from the danger area and were punished by Armed Forces.”

Perak’s only victory to date is the 1-0 league win over Terengganu in Ipoh on Jan 25. They had earlier lost to JDT 2-0 and crashed out of the FA Cup opening round after losing to Pahang 5-4 in a penalty shootout.

With the Super League only resuming on Feb 7, Abu Bakar will use the 10-day break to rectify the team’s weaknesses.

“We will review our performances and study what we have done right and wrong in our matches.

“There was a large-scale clearout at the end of last season and we are relying on a young and untested squad this year. I was hoping for the foreign players to lead by example, but they have not played to their true capabilities yet.

“Although the results have not gone our way, I am proud of my young players’ performances. Before the start of the season, many had predicted that Perak will be easy pickings, but we have proved them wrong by taking the fight to our opponents,” said Abu Bakar, who had promoted many players from his 2013 Perak President’s Cup championship-winning team.

Apart from Zayar Win, Perak’s other imports are defender Martin Kafundo of Burkina Faso and strikers Zelimir Terkes of Bosnia and Eliel Guardino of Brazil.