First blood: Quentin Cheng celebrating after scoring for Selangor. Left: Selangor coach Katsuhito Kinoshi. — Selangor FC
PETALING JAYA: The first day in office could have gone better for Selangor’s new head coach Katsuhito Kinoshi, but he’s working towards making the second outing a more celebratory one.
The Red Giants suffered a 1-2 loss at home against Thailand’s Muangthong United in the Asian Champions League 2 (ACL2) on Thursday and hope for a quick turnaround as they take on Pahang in the Malaysia Cup tomorrow.
Kinoshi admitted there was a lot of brushing up to do in a short time as the first leg against Pahang in the round of 16 ended in a 1-1 draw.
“There are only two days so we are preparing for that; that is my job. There is a lot of homework that needs to be done,” he said.
“The first thing is to focus on player recovery and also the mental transition from game to game.
“If we can make that happen, we can deliver a good game.
“I believe my players have what it takes to do that in the next match,” he said.
Kinoshi apologised to the Selangor fans for not delivering the three points against Muangthong but hoped the players’ commitment on the pitch made up for the defeat.
Left: Selangor coach Katsuhito Kinoshi. — Selangor FC
Quentin Cheng had given Kinoshi reason to celebrate early on as he gave the team the lead in the fifth minute at the Petaling Jaya City Council Stadium on Thursday.
But Muangthong’s Felicio Brown Forbes shot from close range in the 54th minute to equalise, followed by Poramet Arjvirai’s 76th-minute goal sealing the win for the visitors.
“I want to apologise to all the supporters because we could not deliver the three points. That is why we must do it in the next game for the Selangor supporters.
“We should have had the second goal, but at least we can show the fans our style, which is to keep going and never giving up,” he said.
After playing Pahang tomorrow, Selangor will fight to progress in the ACL2 as they play Philippines side Cebu the following Thursday.
Currently in third place in Group H, Selangor need to win and hope group leaders Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors beat Muangthong too.
“We can win, we have to go there and play more aggressively to get goals,” said Kinoshi.
