Kota Kinabalu: Sabah’s hopes of a winning start in its home match was spoilt by KL Felda United on Monday night when they were soundly beaten 1-3 in the Premier League tie at the Likas Stadium in front of Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and about 6,000 fans.
The bold move by coach Milomir Seslija to start the match with youngster Maxsius Musa and Sabri Sahar seemed to pay off as Farid Ideris had the first look at goal in the sixth minute after being put through by Rozaimi Abd Rahman but his shot was too weak and was easily saved by Felda’s keeper Mohd Farizal Harun.

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Malaysian football fans have been welcoming European players since the late 1980’s. It’s a popular destination for players from Croatia and Slovakia in particular, while many pros from the English, French and German leagues have also found a home in the country. Malaysia’s multi-cultural nature and consistently strong economic record make it something of a haven for players looking for a new challenge.

Current Players

Europeans based in Malaysia right now include Goran Perak. Perak, 27, is a Croatian midfielder who’s found a new home at Sime Darby FC. He moved to the Majlis Perbandaran Selayang Stadium from NK Vinogradar, a small Croatian club near Jastrebarsko.

Abdulfatah Safi, 32, is currently playing for his second Malaysian club, having signed for Sabah FA from Kedah this year. He’s played in his home country, France, and various Middle Eastern countries in the last decade.

George Boateng, 38, is a Dutch midfielder who signed a contract with T-Team this year. Formerly at Nottingham Forest, he’s played for a variety of English clubs including Aston Villa and Middlesborough.

Tomas Chovanec, 25, arrived at Betaria FC this year from Dolny Kubin in his home country, Slovakia. The striker’s senior career began in 2011 at Ruzomberok.

Ex Players

One player that Malaysian fans will miss is Spain’s Daniel Guiza. The prolific 33 year old striker arrived at Darul Takzim (on loan from Getafe) last year, but has now moved to Paraguay. Guiza has made 21 appearances for his national side.

Players that have excited Malaysian fans in seasons gone by include England’s Tony Cottee, now a TV commentator with Sky. The ex-striker arrived at Selangor in 1996, scored 14 goals and won the FAM Cup. He left to join Leicester City shortly afterwards.

The late David Rocastle, much loved in England especially by Arsenal fans, ended his career at Sabah in 1999. Though plagued by injury, “Rocky” Rocastle managed 8 goals in 13 games for the club.

Croatian striker Bosko Balaban, 35, is another well-known player who spent time at Selangor. He’s scored regularly for the club, though it looks like his playing days are now over. His previous clubs included Belgium’s Brugge, for whom he scored 40 goals in 83 appearances. He also played many times for the Croatian national side between 2000 and 2007.

Adding Global Interest

It’s obvious to most people that the presence of foreign players in a nation’s leagues adds interest, not only for that country’s fans, but also for fans from all over the world. Online betting on Malaysian league football is strong, and while Malaysia haven’t qualified for Brazil 2014, the level of world cup betting in the country will surely reflect that interest. If you fancy checking out the early odds for this summers tournament head over to dafabet to see all the odds.

(Images courtesy of sinarharian.com, wikipedia, wikipedia, vandaag.be)

And so it has come to this.

We are already in the final quarter of 2013 and the World Cup Year is upon us. Once again Malaysia barely made past the group stage. A big change is needed if we want Malaysia to advance and the most important change is mentality. The world cup is the biggest stage for any footballer and it is a shame if Malaysia can’t even past the regional group here, what with all the fans that are crazy about football.

Everyone likes football and one of the most intense moment in a world cup match is a penalty kick, which is a lot like lottery.

The outcome of a match has boiled down to a one-on-one battle between the goalie and the kicker, with all eyes – their teammates’, their coaches’, their fans’ in the stands, and even the eyes of those watching at home – on them. It’s one of those moments when the final result is determined by a number of factors. Skill, as well as conditioning; but as anyone who has been in a penalty situation will tell you, luck also has something to do with it.

Win Conditions
In contrast, casino games seem inherently dictated by luck alone. A lot of the outcomes of these games appear to be determined by the strength of the hand you’ve been dealt with in poker, the number you bet on a roulette table, or the combination where the slot machine decides to stop at.

However, for anyone who has done the casino rounds long enough – whether in online castlejackpot.com games or live MGM Grand events – these supposed games of “skill and chance” are so much more than that. After all, a large part of poker relies on one’s skill to bluff his way through opponents; a roulette aficionado might be able to determine the probability para

meters of a table given enough observation time; and even slot machine enthusiasts will swear that wins can also be decided by how much force you apply on the handles.

Different Shades of Similarities

Both football and casino games may seem worlds apart when it comes to game mechanics and win determinants; and maybe they are. Nevertheless, both are also clouded over by the so-called “uncertainty factor” wherein the result can more often than not go one way or the other if the right (or wrong) conditions come into play. Casino games have this factor in spades, but as explained in the paragraph above, a player may still have some degree of control over the outcome. If there’s anything for football players to get from that, it’s that the nature of the sport allows them to have a greater degree of control in any given outcome. That is, if controlling the uncertain is deemed possible by casino players, there should be no reason for football players to think otherwise.

The Proper Mindset

As mentioned before, the 2014 World Cup games are almost drawing near, and if you consider yourself a true fan of not just the Sabah Rhinos but of Malaysian Football in general, you’d want to see the national team make it to the top-bracket matches in the future. Of course, the team will have to go through rigorous training regimens; but more than that, the point to drive home is that they will have to keep in mind that they always have the ability to take control of any given situation on the pitch.

With any luck, the skill set and conditioning that they bring to the table will be enough to curb the uncertainty.

Kota Kinabalu: Potential Sabah new coach Milomir Seslija drew in a large crowd at the Likas Stadium on Saturday night with his brief appearance for the Sabah veteran selection against the visiting Negeri Sembilan veterans.
The lanky midfielder who was one of the stalwarts for the State team during the heydays in the 90s linked up with his former teammates Matlan Marjan, Yap Wai Loon, Bobby Chua and others and gave the crowd a night to remember with their touches and skills on the ball.

The team beat the visitors 3-0 with goals from Julius Ating, Suharmin Yusof and Paulus Jimit.

The Bosnian was treated like a rock star after the match as large numbers of fans surrounded him and asked for his autograph as well as to take photographs with him.

However, he refused to talk about the coaching job and said it was too early to make any statement but said he was very happy to be back in Sabah and pleased to see his old friends again.

Also present at the match were former coach Kelly Tham, State assistant team manager Yahya Kassim and Scott Ollerenshaw who did not play due to his injury.

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KOTA KINABALU: Seslija Milomir has been named as the new Sabah head coach.

The Bosnian will be officially unveiled anytime now.

In fact, the former Sabah midfield maestro is already in the national capital, and was among those who turned up for Sabah’s Malaysia Cup playoff against Negeri Sembilan at the Shah Alam Stadium last night.

Yesterday, Sabah Football Association (SFA) Deputy President Datuk Lawrence Gimbang confirmed that Milomir, who donned Sabah colours from early 1994 to 1997, will be their new head coach succeeding David McCreery, who resigned due to health reasons, last month.

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