New U-19 head coach pledges his best

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Roslan Wasli

KOTA KINABALU: Newly appointed Sabah Under-19 head coach Roslan Wasli has pledged his best to leading the squad in the 2021 Youth Cup challenge.

Roslan sad it was an honour to be handed the job – which will be a first for him – having been the assistant coach on three occasions.

And from past experience, he expected it to be a heavy responsibility but he was quick to assure of his readiness to train the team to the best of his ability.

“God willing, I will carry out my duty and responsibility as best possible for the Sabah Under-19 squad 2021.

“The current situation with the Covid-19 pandemic will pose the biggest obstacle to our preparation but I’m very determined,” he said here yesterday.

Having said that, Roslan along with the team coaching staff will only make further plans on the team preparation when the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) confirm the format of this season’s Youth Cup competition.

“As for our early preparation, we will focus on the players from the 2020 Youth Cup team as well as footballers from the DPM (SMK Datuk Peter Mojuntin) Sports School.

“We will conduct the the various phases of selection trials after the PKP (Movement Control Order) and to comply strictly to the SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures),” he added.

For the new season, Roslan will work with assistant coach Sudirman Garamah, goalkeeper coach Asmawi Bair and fitness coach Awang Jasri Awang Matusin.

The team manager of the Youth Cup team is Mohd Khairul Nizaem.

In the 2020 season, the Youth Cup competition along with the President Cup was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Roslan is no stranger to the local football scene although it will be the first time that he would assume the role of a head coach with the state junior squad.

He had worked with the state under-19 squad on three occasions namely from 2012 to 2013 under head coach Awang Sabtu Jamil and also in 2015 under head coach Razali Zinin.

Roslan’s other notable coaching honour saw him led Sabah Prison to four titles in the national level Malaysian Prisons Football Tournament; Safa Kota Kinabalu when the team won the Chief Minister’s Cup as well as a second placing; a silver and bronze in the Sabah Games (Saga); various titles with TABS Kota Kinabalu; champions with Kota Kinabalu team in the Datuk Yusof Serungit Inter-District tournament; and coached the City team to the Liga Rakyat.