PENANG FC AWARE OF OBSTACLES, PREPARES FOR BATTLE IN KUCHING

GEORGE TOWN, Jan 19 (Bernama) -- With a one-goal advantage, it is not a comfortable guarantee for Penang FC who will travel to Sarawak for the return leg of the 2025/2026 Malaysia Cup round of 16 against Kuching City FC, on Jan 24.

Realising this fact, Penang FC head coach Wan Rohaimi Wan Ismail said his team will make thorough preparations to face the remaining 90 minutes which are expected to be challenging, especially playing in front of the opposing fans.

“We are aware of the obstacles when facing in Kuching and I will prepare the team for any eventuality throughout the 90 minutes of the match.

“However, what I can say is that we will go with the same approach, which is to play an attacking game and pressure them,” he said at a press conference after the match ended at the Bandaraya Stadium here, last night.

In the match, Penang FC won a narrow 1-0 victory thanks to a goal by new Brazilian-born import striker, Douglas Coutinho Gomes De Souza in the 40th minute, thus putting the Black Panthers ahead of the return match.

Regarding his decision to put Douglas in the starting lineup, Wan Rohaimi described the trust given to the player as timely after he managed to create an immediate impact with a goal on his debut.

“The trust was given and Douglas managed to repay it well. Alhamdulillah, we got an immediate impact from him from his first appearance with his first goal and I hope his performance and confidence will continue to improve to help Penang FC in the upcoming matches,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kuching City FC head coach Aidil Sharin Sahak said last night’s defeat did not dampen the morale of his team who had given their best performance throughout the match and was optimistic that the strong support from the fans in Kuching would be a boost to the players to chase a comeback.

He also described the loss of focus in the first half, especially in controlling set pieces, as giving the home team an advantage although he stressed that Penang FC did not create many open opportunities throughout the match.

“This is a cup game with many challenges and possible outcomes and there will always be surprises. We need to recover quickly. Penang may be happy today, but this is only the first half of the tie and we will see what happens when we play in Kuching,” he said.

Aidil, meanwhile, said the extent of midfielder Muhammad Danial Amier Norhisham's injury is still unknown and will be assessed by the medical team in the near future.

“Maybe the doctors will evaluate the injury once the swelling goes down and decide if an X-ray or MRI is required. The injury is still fresh but it appears to be serious, as ankle twists can be quite bad,” he said.

-- BERNAMA