Heart of gold: Kuala Lumpur’s Paulo Josue celebrating after scoring against Kuching City, and afterwards (right) showing a tee inside his jersey with the words “Be Strong” towards the people of his home state Rio Grande do Sul who are affected by severe flooding in Brazil. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: This is for Faisal Halim and Rio Grande do Sul!
It was not the start Kuala Lumpur would have wished for, but their captain Paulo Josue showed class and solidarity on the pitch in their 1-1 Super League draw against Kuching City at the Cheras Football Stadium on Sunday.
The 35-year-old naturalised Brazilian, who starred as a striker, scored the first goal in the 12th minute with a low-driven left-footed shot inside the box.
Kuching scored their equaliser seven minutes later through Brazilian striker Pedro Henrique and the City Boys were further punished after centreback Andrija Rudovic was sent off after a video assistant referee (VAR) check confirmed that he had made a high boot challenge on Kuching striker Jordan Mintah in the 40th minute.
The star of the show was Josue as he expressed his joy of scoring the solitary goal by doing Cristiano Ronaldo’s famed ‘Siuuu’ celebration, just like his national teammate and winger Faisal Halim, who is currently recovering from an acid attack on May 5.
Josue said his way of celebration was a show of respect and love for Faisal, who is affectionately known as Mickey.
“I celebrated like him because, all the players are close to him. He is a player that you love to have in the dressing room.
“It is my way of showing that I am behind him. It is the least I can do for a player like him,” said Josue.
Faisal is currently recovering in hospital, having undergone three surgeries to tend to his fourth-degree burns on his face and left arm.
The whole nation has been gripped by his horrific ordeal and many from the footballing fraternity have shown solidarity.
And not only that, Josue also showed a tee inside his jersey, showing solidarity towards the people of Rio Grande do Sul, who are affected by severe flooding, which has seen hundreds of people killed.
Josue, who comes from that state, born in Canela, said, “My family is okay, thank God but out of the 497 counties in my state, 420 are affected.”
“More than a million people are affected and based on the latest reports, more than 100,000 people lost their homes. It is bad.
“I am doing my part to help the people in Rio Grande do Sul by giving some funds. My wife and some friends are organising a bazaar to raise funds for the people there.
“I’ve also spoken to our chief executive officer (CEO) Stanley Bernard Samuel if the club can do something to raise funds.”
Meanwhile, Kuala Lumpur coach Miroslav Kuljanac said his team could have had a different outcome if Rudovic was not sent off and rightback Kamal Azizi Zabri had not been taken off in the second minute due to a fractured wrist.
“It was hard because I had to change Kamal due to a wrist injury and our plans changed because of that,” said Kuljanac.
“The red card changed everything, we had to survive. We tried to score goals despite the one-man disadvantage but a draw is an okay result,” added the Croatian.
