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Friday October 16, 2009

Deepavali’s just one day for Sathia as Kelantan are his priority

By ERIC SAMUEL

PETALING JAYA: Coach B. Sathianathan will cut short his Deepavali holidays and return to prepare Kelantan for the Malaysia Cup quarter-final tie against KL Plus FC next week.

The former national coach will only take a day’s leave on Deepavali day tomorrow.

“It is business as usual for the boys in training in Kota Baru. I will return home on the eve of Deepavali after the evening’s training session and it will be back at work with Kelantan on Sunday morning. We have to be prepared for the tough match against KL Plus,” said Sathianathan.

Kelantan will be away in the first-leg match at the KL Football Stadium in Cheras on Tuesday and they will host the return game at the Sultan Mohd IV Stadium in Kota Baru on Oct 24.

“KL Plus have proved to be a strong team. I need to ensure that my players are in good shape for the match on Tuesday. The away-goal rule applies. Therefore we cannot afford to take it easy in both the home and away matches,” said Sathianathan.

The Red Warriors will be counting on their senior players, led by Indra Putra Mahayuddin, Mohd Norfarhan Mohd, Khalid Jamlus, Che Hishamuddin Hassan, Azlan Ahmad and Nazrulerwan Makmor, to play influential roles to steer the team into the final.

Kelantan have never won the Malaysia Cup since its inception in 1921.

On Wednesday, the Kelantan FA (Kafa) rewarded the players a RM2,000 bonus each for making the quarter-finals. They will get another bonus if they make the semi-finals.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the team management committee, Azman Ibrahim, said that ticket prices for the return match against KL Plus in Kota Baru would be increased from RM10 to RM12 (open) and RM20 to RM25 (grandstand). He said that the extra money raised from ticket sales would be donated to the earthquake victims in Padang, Indonesia.

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