Injured Ivan loses hope to recover in time for Cup final

KANGAR: Perlis winger Mohd Ivan Yusoff is known to be a speed merchant. But he has lost the race against time to recover from a knee surgery to play in the Malaysia Cup final against Selangor on Saturday. 

The 23-year-old former Kuala Lumpur player has been out of action since picking up the injury in a Super League match against Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (MPPJ) in July. 

“I was told I that I had to wait a month more before I can see action again. But I never gave up hope of making a speedy recovery to play in my first-ever Malaysia Cup final,” said Ivan yesterday. 

IVAN: The Perlis winger has not recovered from a knee surgery and will watch the Malaysia Cup final against Selangor from the stands.

“But until now, I have been restricted to doing only light training and I won't make the team for the Cup final. It's a big disappointment. 

“I will be watching the final from the stands. The consolation for me is to see Perlis retain the Cup.” 

Now that he is out of the Cup final, Ivan will turn his attention to winning a place in coach Norizan Bakar's national Under-23 side for the Manila SEA Games (Nov 27-Dec 5). 

“The SEA Games is more than a month away and I have a good chance to regain mmy fitness to be considered for selection,” he said. 

Ivan is no stranger to the national team. He was in the senior side for the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Tiger Cup tournaments last year and also featured in the World Cup qualifiers against Hong Kong this year.