PETALING JAYA: The arrival of new Brazilian striker Joao Pedro Duarte (pic) is set to add sting to Sabah’s strikeforce following the departure of their experienced striker Ramon Machado last month.
Duarte had been plying his trade with Viettel FC in the Vietnam League 1 and Sabah coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee is looking forward to the 24-year-old striker settling into the team quickly.
Machado, who had only scored one goal this season, has joined Azerbaijan Premier League side Araz-Naxcivan.
Kim Swee is hopeful that Duarte can be a solution to the team’s goalscoring woes that have slowed down their early progress in the league.
“We hope the problem of our poor finishing will be solved by Duarte and we believe that his strong performance can bolster our strikeforce,” said Kim Swee.
“However, the fans must also realise that Duarte and Machado have different playing styles and the quality of their performances should be not compared.
“We will make sure Duarte settle into the team quickly and the timing is also good that we play our next match on Sept 15.”
Jafri Firdaus Chew has scored three goals for Sabah this season while defenders Daniel Ting and Gabriel Peres have chipped in with two goals each.
However, Sabah need a striker who can get the crucial goals to win matches and fans will be hoping Duarte can improve Sabah’s fortunes when they host a tough match against Terengganu on Sept 15.
Sabah are in fourth position in the Super League with 13 points while Terengganu are third with 15 points behind Selangor (19) and leaders Johor Darul Ta’zim (22).
