Camara’s not shaken, but stirred after penalty miss

Be positive: PJ City coach K. Devan believes his striker Aboubacar Demba Camara (left) will bounce back in their match against UiTM today.

PETALING JAYA: Aboubacar Demba Camara could have had a dream debut for Petaling Jaya City when he stepped up for a penalty against Felda United on March 1. Instead, he the Guinean international shot wide and had to hang his head in shame.

It’s the kind of thing that can shatter the confidence of any player. For much of the remaining 25 minutes, he seemed to have lost direction.

Coach K. Devan, however, believes Camara will surely bounce back and show his true abilities against last season’s Super League runners-up Pahang at the UiTM Stadium in Shah Alam today.

“Camara has played for many European clubs, so he has gone through lots of situations in his career. That miss will not sum up his time here. He is a thorough professional, ” said Devan.

“In football, you always have to be positive. The penalty miss made me understand Camara better. I know he will surely come up with better performances to prove his capability as a top striker.

“This is just the beginning, and all the players are working on ways to understand each other. It is a learning process for the players and coaches.”

For the game against Pahang, Devan said he was going to stick with the same line-up he used against Felda United, but added that South Korean defender Kim Bong-jin is a doubt for the game.

The 29-year-old injured his chin against Felda and has not been training with the team in the last five days.

“We did a scan, and there was no fracture. There was a swelling, but now it has gone down. We are assessing Kim’s condition before finalising the first 11.

“Based on the first game, our first 11 looked okay, but I know they can raise their level. Against Pahang, you have to be at your best.”

Meanwhile, Pahang coach Dollah Salleh said that although they lost 1-2 to Selangor in their first league game, he was encouraged by the fighting spirit shown by the players.

He admitted that at the end of the day, fans would only look at results as he tries to get their league campaign up and running..

“We played well, but the result did not favour us. Even if we played well, the fans would still say we are no good because to them, a defeat is a defeat.

“Against PJ City, we have to do something different. After the game against Selangor, I had a chat with the boys and spirits are still high.

“We did not have the best of pre-season preparations, so understandably, the team will have a slow start.

“There are no injury concerns except (Mohamadou) Sumareh, who is still recovering. There were concerns over Herold Goulon, but he is training with us, so we will see.”