Hard to keep up: Kuala Lumpur’s Giancarlo Gallifuoco (left) tussling for the ball with Lions City Sailors’ Toni Datkovic. — Lions City Sailors
PETALING JAYA: The struggle to adapt to the artificial pitch at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore was a huge factor in Kuala Lumpur’s 2-0 loss to Lions City Sailors in the Asean Club Championship on Thursday.
It was the City Boys’ first loss in the competition and centreback Giancarlo Gallifuoco admitted they could not cope with the difficulties on the field.
‘’It felt like we were constantly running for milliseconds. We’re so accustomed to playing on grass and on this artificial field, there’s a big change in speed, bounce and trajectory,’’ said the 30-year-old Australian, who has been with KL since 2021.
‘’Unfortunately, we struggled to adapt to it. We misplaced passes, touches and the long balls we resorted to went further than expected.
“All that nullified our game plan. Perhaps if we train on this pitch for a month, then we can get a better result.’’
With the defeat, KL dropped to third in their group with six points while the Lions, who got their first win, moved up to fifth with three points.
KL will next face Vietnamese club Cong An Ha Noi at the Cheras Football Stadium on Jan 23, while Lions take on Thai giants Buriram United at the Jalan Besar Stadium on the same date.
Gallifuoco also accepted some personal responsibility for the loss by admitting that he was not at his best for the match against Lions.
“I’m devastated, I tried to lead the charge but I got it wrong. I’m fortunate that I don’t have to say this too many times but I wasn’t at my best for the team today.
“Out supporters deserve better, so we will try to bounce back strongly. We have two more matches in the competition and we intend to make the most out of them.’’
