The Malaysian Armed Forces (ATM) bounced back from an unlucky voyage in the preliminary round of the TNB Tun Abdul Razak Cup, To eventually finish in fifth spot.
In today’s 5-6th placing match, Armed Forces defeated Kuala Lumpur, who hold the tournament record of winning the title 21 times, with a 4-0 victory. The goals came through Mohamad Sufian Marsom, Muhamad Faisol Rohizan, Azrin Azman and Muhamed Nazrey Din.
In Group B preliminary round matches, Armed Forces lost to Terengganu (1-3) and Perak (4-5) before turning their fortunes around with wins over Negeri Sembilan (4-1), Sabah (3-2), drew 3-3 with Malacca, and clamped PDRM (7-1). They finished third in the table standings on 10 points.
Negeri Sembilan concluded their journey in this 62nd edition with a 3-5 defeat against Penang in the 7-8th placing encounter.
Sabah was made to work hard by Perlis before securing a 5-4 win in the 9-10th place match today. Muhammad Salman Sudirman and Muhajir Abdu Rauf scored a brace and Haziq Haikal added one.
Former international Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin Tengku Abdul Jalil scored a brace, while Mughni Mohamad Kamal and Shafiq Ammar Fahmi contributed one each for Perlis.
“The younger players on the Sabah team need a lot of exposure to fine tune their skills. They have the potential to be better players,” said Sabah coach Eugene Lee.
“It would be good if they competed in the national junior league and also returned to the Tun Razak Cup next year.
“The TARC is a very strong platform. You play against senior national teams past and present players. This experience will transform the players to the next level,” he added.
Malacca, one of the most exciting teams in the tournament having drawn three matches and won one, nudged Selangor 4-3 in the 11-12th placing match.
In other matches, PDRM defeated Singapore 3-2 in the 13-14th placing match. It was PDRM’s first win in the tournament following six earlier defeats of the Group B preliminary round.