KUALA LUMPUR, Mac 6 – When Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) retained the Charity Shield with a 2-0 win over Kedah Darul Aman FC (KDA FC) at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri, Johor Bahru on Friday to kickstart the new Malaysian Football League season the absence of football fans stood out like a sore thumb.
And the glaring absence of the fans in the coming matches will be felt as the season progresses.
It will sorely felt across the country unless the authorities concerned with the Covid-19 pandemic, lift the restrictions on the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
For that to happen, we all have a role to play. From football fans and the public in general, let us take the bull by its horns and adhere to the strict SOPs. Adhering to strict SOPs will surely help the cause and bring down the daily positive cases.
Teams are missing their fans and supporters who are often the driving force behind their success – and the fans are missing their favorite teams.
More importantly, the stadium stands have become ”dull” without the rivalry of the fans.
JDT’s long-serving Mexican coach Benjamin Mora hailed his team’s win in the Charity Shield match which also gave the Southern Tigers three points in the Super League. JDT is a seven-time Malaysian Super League champion since 2014.
”This is not the best from JDT and also Kedah. It is going to be a long, long journey for the teams in the league. The short pre-season preparations for the teams showed…we were not 100 percent and so was Kedah,” said Mora.
Still, Kedah’s Singaporean coach Aidil Shahrin Sahak was quick to admit defeat saying “JDT was the better team” on the night.
“We will move on from here. There were loopholes and work on plugging that,” said Aidil who was paraded an all-local backline.
“We take one match at a time and hope to be competitive in the coming matches for positive results. Some of the players who missed the Charity Shield match will be returning…and this gives us hope.”
For the record, it was JDT’s fourth successive Charity Shield title.
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