KUCHING: The Sarawak football squad are now almost complete with a full list of players to face the Premier League 2018 campaign which will kick off on February 2. With the initial list of 24 players, left one vacancy to fully complete a total of 25 players quota.
With a total of 12 new faces, four are from the junior squad – Shaiful Wazizi Mohamad (Youth Cup, goalkeeper ) , Nor Azizi Ramlee (President Cup, striker), Peter Frank Brown (President Cup, defender), Jimmy Raymond (President Cup, defender).
Also listed are Benedict Martin (Sarawak Cup–Miri , midfielder), Bobby Gonzales (Sabah, str iker), Mohd lqbal Suhaimi (Pahang, goalkeeper), Mohamad Firdaus Muhamad (Melaka United, goalkeeper), Mohd. Sabree Mat Abu (Kedah, defender), Muhammad Muzaimir Abdul Hadi (Kedah,midfielder), Shazlee Ramlee ( JDT Il, midfielder) and new import striker Nebojsa Marinkovic (Yugoslavia, striker).
The Football Association of Sarawak (FAS) president, Dato Posa Maiais said with this initial list of 24 players, the squad is now almost complete with just one slot left for an Asia import.
“The Sarawak squad are now almost 90 percent complete with the players, just remaining one empty slot for import from Asia, he said at a press conference at one of the city’s leading hotel, here, on Saturday.
The FAS is in the process of final negotiation for the services of a potential import signing from the Asian region. Dato Posa also acknowledged that the final import player was the key player of the Australian League club, Perth Glory whose services were used on a loan basis.
Meanwhile, last season’s players still in the squad are Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak, Awang Kamaruddin Awang Bohan, Daglish Papin Anak Test, Mazwandi Zakeria, Mohamad Alif Hassan, Mo h amma d Dzulazlan Ibrahim, Mohammad Hafis Saperi, Mohammad Hafiz Abu Bakar, Mohd Hairol Mokhtar, Rames Lai Ban Huat including two import stars Matthew Roskam and Milos Raickovic.
FAS has high confidence in the group of new players, regardless of their talents as well as their experience in representing their former squad and clubs. “Hopefully, the mix of players and the new faces will create a formidable combination. “It’s a rebuilding effort by the FAS management who wants to see the Sarawak squad return to the Super League next season,” Posa added.
