PETALING JAYA: Selangor have secured their place in the FA Cup quarter-finals but coach Kim Pan-gon is a picture of discontent.
The South Korean is left with an exhausted squad, which he blamed on a congested fixture schedule.
The Red Giants advanced in the FA Cup after edging Sabah 2-1 in the round of 16 second-leg fixture on Wednesday at the Petaling Jaya Stadium, a week after their 2-2 draw in the first leg.
Selangor, however, also played Melaka and won 3-2 in the Super League on Sunday, leaving the team with just 48 hours in between match days.
Pan-gon feels that the limited rest time has affected the quality of his team’s performance.
“What kind of quality do the organisers expect when we are faced with this type of schedule?,” fumed Pan-gon.
“We can’t blame our players because they are only given 48 hours rest.
‘‘We need to be protecting our players and the quality of the game.
“It was a low-quality game, and everyone is responsible for it.
‘‘We could be playing good, quality football if we were given proper rest and had good preparation.
“I can’t blame the players; they have been very tough. We conceded because of fatigue, but in the end everyone was tired.”
Selangor’s Eduardo Sosa scored first in the 36th minute before Sabah got their equaliser in the 49th through Park Jung-bin.
Chrigor Moraes saved the day when he scored off the rebound from his missed penalty in the 56th minute to see Selangor into the quarter-finals.
But their win on home ground was denied spectators after Selangor’s appeal against the Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) sanction was rejected, which Pan-gon was not pleased about either.
The no-fan sanction was imposed by the FAM’s disciplinary committee on Nov 15 last year and subsequently upheld by the FAM appeals committee on Nov 26, following incidents involving spectator conduct and match organisation during Selangor’s match against Negri Sembilan last season.
“Not having fans at the stadium has a big effect. The game is for the fans,” he said.
“They can find another way (to fine us), but stopping people from coming to a game is the worst thing you could do.
“We play for the spectators; otherwise what are we playing for? To me it’s very disappointing and I hope this is the last time that we have to play without spectators.”
Selangor will now eye a quick turnaround as they prepare to face Kuala Lumpur in a Super League Klang Valley derby at the Cheras Stadium on Sunday.
