KUALA NERUS: Terengganu head coach Tomislav Steinbruckner refused to blame his charges for the defeat to Selangor in the Super League match at Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium on Friday.
Terengganu lost 0-4 just days after pulling off a shock defeat against the Red Giants in the Malaysia Cup.
Last week, Terengganu drew 1-1 with Selangor in the second leg of the Malaysia Cup quarter-finals to advance to the semi-finals with a 3-1 aggregate.
The Turtles rested several key players including goalkeeper Suhaimi Husin and striker Sony Norde for the league clash.
Yohandry Orozco scored a brace for Selangor in the 26th and 41st minutes while national winger Faisal Halim made it 3-0 in the 52nd minute to shut out Terengganu.
Alif Izwan Yuslan struck in the 81st minute to complete the turnaround for Selangor and consolidate their second spot in the league table behind champions Johor Darul Ta’zim.
Even though they failed to secure three crucial points on their home turf, the 56-year-old coach expressed satisfaction with the dedication of many young players who gave their all in the match.
Steinbruckner said that despite the risk, he had to field many young players as some of the key members of the Turtles squad were plagued with injury problems following a very tight match schedule.
“Of course, I’m not satisfied with the result, but I’m also not overly disappointed because our young players gave their 100 per cent and this is a good experience for them,” said Steinbruckner.
“Three or four players were not from our usual first eleven.
“But I had to change a few players because we cannot play with the same line-up every game due to injury problems,” he said.
The Turtles’ latest defeat marked an end to their 12-game undefeated streak in the Super League, Malaysia Cup and Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup competitions.
Selangor’s victory allowed them to remain in second place in the Super League standings with 52 points, while Terengganu are sixth with 35 points. — Bernama
