Tight marking: Sabah’s Joao Pedro is fouled by a Kuching City player during their Malaysia Cup quarter-final second leg match on Monday. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: Sabah are entering the Christmas period in a festive mood after confirming their spot in the Malaysia Cup semi-finals, where they will face Pahang.
Though the road ahead is going to be tougher for the Rhinos as they also take on Super League table toppers Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) on Jan 11 and then Pahang in the first leg of the prestigious cup competition on Jan 17, Slovakian coach Martin Stano wants his boys to savour the two-legged quarter-final win over Kuching City.
“First of all, we need a break. Let’s celebrate Christmas and be with our loved ones,” he said as he celebrated his first semi-final qualification as a head coach in his career.
“The national team players (centreback Dominic Tan, midfielder Stuart Wilkin, striker Darren Lok and leftback Daniel Ting) are exhausted with the workload.
“These men played for the country and club, a lot of games in two weeks, so they need the break. The players will return on Dec 29 and then we will prepare for JDT and Pahang.”
Sabah completed the list of Malaysia Cup semi-finalists after beating their Borneo rivals 1-0 on aggregate.
The Rhinos held the Cats 0-0 in the second leg at the Likas Stadium in Kota Kinabalu on Monday.
In the first-leg, Sabah edged them 1-0 in Kuching, thanks to Farhan Roslan’s solitary goal.
“We expected a tough game with Kuching despite our first-leg advantage,” said Stano.
“In the first half, it was full-on offence from both sides but we couldn’t get the goals.
‘‘In the second half, we dipped a little but we were still resolute enough to hold on for a 0-0 draw and get to the semi-final.”
As for Stano, he is cherishing his early days as Sabah coach and was glad that the second-leg game, which was his first match in charge at the Likas Stadium, ended well.
But he admitted that the legacy left by Datuk Ong Kim Swee, who moved to Indonesia to coach Persis Solo, is still felt in Sabah.
“That’s football. Coaches come and go. It happens everywhere. That’s also the beauty of it. But I am here now. Coach Ong created this atmosphere and we want to further elevate the potential of the team.”
