JOHOR are confident that they have enough talent to beat hosts Malacca today in the National Under-23 final at the Bukit Serindit Stadium, but they are wary of the umpires.Johor coach Sarjit Singh (pic), a former national juniors coach, said his charges are prepared to lift the title, provided that umpiring is of high standard.
“I don’t want a repeat of what happened to Kuala Lumpur in the semi-finals. I am appealing for fair umpiring, and my boys will do the rest,” said Sarjit.
Kuala Lumpur were the overwhelming favourites against Malacca in the semi-finals on Friday, but those who watched the match, were shocked with the level of umpiring, which they said sided the hosts.
And at the end of the match, Kuala Lumpur players R. Nadesh and Harwinder Singh, who both played in the recent Junior World Cup, were hauled up to face the technical committee for abusing the umpires.
“I am in the dark as to why both my players have been called up by the technical committee. As far as I know, both the boys did not say anything abusive to the umpires and I was shocked when they were told to face the technical committee at 1pm tomorrow (today).
“Our bronze playoff with Project 2013 is at 3pm, and if we lose both the world cup players, it will be a big blow to KL,” said KL coach I. Vickneswaran.
Johor, with seven Junior World Cup players, are the hot favourites even though the Johor-Malacca group match ended in a 2-2 draw.
“We were leading 2-1 and had control of the match, and even increased the lead to 3-1, but the third goal was disallowed by the umpire even though in my opinion, it was a legitimate one.
“And for the final, I appeal to the umpires to give their best, and leave sentiments aside,” said Sarjit.
Malacca coach G. Ravindran knows the score well: “With so many experienced players in Johor, we will surely be the under dogs. However, we take comfort form the 2-2 draw in the pool match, and hope to post another surprise tomorrow (today).”
TODAY: Final -- Malacca v Johor (5pm); Third-Fourth: Project 2013 v Kuala Lumpur (3pm).
