PETALING JAYA: Friendship will be put aside when Kuala Lumpur take on Terengganu in the Super League at the Cheras Football Stadium today.
The City Boys coach Miroslav Kuljanac is looking forward to meeting his Croatian counterpart Tomislav Steinbruckner, who helmsTerengganu.
Both of them have known each other personally for more than 10 years when they took their coaching badges in Croatia.
Kuljanac said both have been communicating with each other quite often but on game day, they are rivals.
“I knew Steinbruckner during his playing days in Croatia when he played for Osijek. Then he moved to Singapore in 1999. He was there for a short while and at the time, I moved there but he was already leaving,” he said.
“Then we met in Croatia where the coaching circle is small. That was how our friendship got closer. He is a good man but on game day, both of us want to win.
“I like Terengganu’s style of play. A lot of short passes and they find spaces well. Tomi has created attractive football for them.
“They may have lost the FA Cup semi-final against Selangor, but I am sure they will have the motivation to beat us.”
Kuala Lumpur’s preparation has been hampered by the six-point deduction and a transfer ban for the remainder of the Super League season due to inaccuracies in the documentation submitted to government agencies in obtaining their club licence.
Kuljanac said it was a hard moment but he had told his boys to forget about it and bounce back.
“We need to focus on the field and keep this good performance going. We are playing well. I want to continue with these good games.
“Some things are out of our control. We can’t do anything. Rules are rules. “
Meanwhile, Steinbruckner said he has seen his best mate Kuljanac in the stands for some of their matches, including their last league win against Negri Sembilan, beating them 3-2.
“My friend came for our previous league match against Negri. I’m sure he would have seen some of the problems we had in that game.
“But I am not perturbed because we had a week of training to rectify some of the mistakes we made in the previous game.”
