Yusri Che Lah, KelantanGoal

Yusri decides on Kuala Lumpur's three goalkeepers


BY        ZULHILMI ZAINAL       Follow on Twitter

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Kuala Lumpur (KL) fell to a 3-2 friendly defeat against their Klang Valley rivals Selangor on Saturday.

In the match that was held at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium, the visitors went in front first through Sean Selvaraj's seventh minute goal, before Syazwan Andik equalised in the 58th minute. Wan Zack Haikal's header put Selangor in front again just a minute later, but a mistake by custodian Farizal Harun in the 89th minute allowed Paulo Josue to equalise. In injury time, veteran player Amri Yahyah was awarded a penalty, which he put away himself for the winner.

Commenting on the encounter, newly-appointed head coach Yusri Che Lah praised his charges' ability to come back into the match after the Red Giants' dominance in the early stages.

"I'm satisfied with my men's fitness, as I was able to keep a majority of them for the full 90 minutes. The team struggled somewhat in the first half, but the introductions of Alif [Samsudin] and Syazwan Andik in the second turned things around for us.

"Despite the defeat, we showed that we were able to go up against a formidable side, and we were able to identify our weak spots. I now hope that our injured players (Khair Jones and Achmad Jufriyanto) will recover in time for the league kick off," said the former Malaysia international to the press. 

When asked, the former Kelantan boss also revealed his decision on the three goalkeepers who will be registered on their 2019 squad. The City Boys at one point in the pre-season had six custodians, including Faridzuean Kamaruddin who followed Yusri from the Red Warriors.

"I've made my decision and informed the board, after identifying the goalkeeper's position as the team's most glaring weakness in the previous season.

"We're retaining Sharbinee [Allawee Ramli] and Kamarul Effandi Rahim, and signing Faridzuean. Khatul (21-year old Khatul Anuar Jalil) is a good goalkeeper, but if he stays here he will not get playing time.

"I've had a long chat with him, and told him that he's being sent on a loan spell with UKM FC where he'll get more minutes and the chance to build up his confidence, so he can return here as a better player for the 2020 season," explained the forner Perlis player.

The KL board in early December last year had managed to pry Yusri away from Kelantan, wanting a younger coach to led the team.

They then signed Dutch forward Sylvano Comvalius and Japanese midfielder Ryutaro Karube, as well as Khair from Melaka United.

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