KUCHING: Kuching City FC midfielder, Petrus Shitembi, believes The Cats proved they could compete with one of Asia’s biggest football powerhouses despite falling 2-0 against Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) at the Malaysia Cup final on Saturday (May 23) night.
Facing the dominant Southern Tigers under the Bukit Jalil lights, Kuching City entered the match determined to disrupt JDT’s rhythm and compete fearlessly on the country’s biggest domestic stage.
“They are a massive powerhouse of Malaysian football and Asia, so we came in here with a game plan. I think the boys executed it very well from the start. We wanted to upset them as much as we could and you could see that in the first half,” he said during a live post-match interview with Astro Arena.
Kuching City frustrated the defending champions for long stretches early in the match while creating several dangerous attacking moments of their own before the game gradually shifted in JDT’s favour.
Still, Shitembi felt experience ultimately became one of the biggest differences as Kuching City navigated their first-ever Malaysia Cup final appearance with a squad featuring several younger players.
“Experience will come with more games that we play. We have a lot of young players and, like I said, I’ve been incredibly proud of everybody for holding on as long as we did,” he said.
The Namibian midfielder also admitted the missed penalty and wasted chances remained difficult to forget after the defeat.
“It’s unfortunate with the penalty miss. If we had taken one or two of our chances, I think it would have been a different game altogether, but I’m still very proud of everybody,” he added.
Despite the heartbreak, Kuching City still completed the most successful season in the club’s history after finishing runners-up in the Super League, securing qualification to the AFC Champions League Two (ACL2), and reaching the Malaysia Cup final for the first time.
