He’ll rise to the occasion: Midfielder Paulo Josue is KL’s top scorer with five goals.
PETALING JAYA: Kuala Lumpur’s impressive record faces a severe test as they travel to Kuantan to take on unbeaten Pahang in the Super League at the Darul Makmur Stadium today.
But City Boys captain Paulo Josue said their recent 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final win over Sabah in Kota Kinabalu will stand them in good stead for the face-off with the Elephants.
In their five away games this season, KL have won twice, drawn two games and lost only once, 2-1 to Negri Sembilan.
Midfielder Josue, who is his team’s top scorer with five goals besides providing two assists, is expected to be at the heart of everything as KL plot Pahang’s first loss of the season.
“We are prepared for another tough game on the road. We just have to keep our momentum going,” said the 34-year-old, who has two caps for Malaysia so far.
“Coach Bojan (Hodak) knows the strengths and weaknesses of Pahang and we’ve been given a game plan to execute.’’
Left-footer Josue, who has been a key playmaker for KL since 2017, has again been the standout for KL.
Apart from his creative powers in the middle, the Brazilian has even outscored KL’s two strikers – Tchetce Kipre (four goals) and Herlison Caion (one).
Josue, however, was quick to stress that the situation is not a reflection of the strikers’ true value. “Tchetce and Herlison, in fact, are the reason why I’m scoring more goals. Good strikers also open up space for a playmaker to score at times.
“Tchetche has made a lot of clever movements to create space for others, while Herlison is more of an old-school striker who always stays in the box but also plays the hold-up role well.’’
Given what a goal-scoring threat Josue has become, he can expect to be a marked man against Pahang.
And the man expected to put the shackles on him is Argentinian defensive midfielder Stefano Brundo.
“You know how the Brazil and Argentina rivalry is. I may be a Malaysian player now, but I still have my Brazilian roots, so I will be pumped up to face someone from Argentina.”
Pahang are third in the league with 25 points from 12 games, while Kuala Lumpur are sixth with 19 points.
