MUAR (20 Dec 2011) – An ecstatic Perlis side won the inaugural title of Champion of Champions 2011 when they held their nerves to beat Kelantan 4-3 on sudden death penalties in the final that was played at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium this evening.
The score at the end of the regulatory 60 minutes was 0-0. With the score tied 3-3 at the end of the five penalty shootouts each, the first attempt at goal in sudden death fell to Kelantan but striker Ahmad Tasnim Nasir shot straight to Perlis keeper Shahzwan Shafri instead.
Perlis’ Muhammad Akmal Salleh the stepped up to send the ball to the right of the goal well beyond the reach of Kelantan custodian Muhammad Azri Abdul Ghani.
“Of course, we are very happy to win the title as it has more than made up for the loss in the semi-finals of the MyKid National Championship last month to Kedah,” said Perlis coach Mohd Shahabuddin Kadir after the game.
“The game was very close and when it came down to the penalties, it was really anybody’s title. But we are glad that we came out tops.”
With the rain showing no relief since last night, the quality of the game today was affected as neither team could display their hard running short passing game.
The usually nippy Kelantan winger Wan Alif Aiman Rosmaidi rarely got the ball into the Perlis box where at the end of the first half, striker Muhammad Syaiful Alias only got one shot in which was saved by Shazwan.
The only high point for Perlis in the game came in the second half from a freekick but Ammar Akhmali Alias’ goal was called for off side.
The win for Perlis saw them bagging RM10,000 while Kelantan walked off with RM7,500.
“We have the players but perhaps next year, we will have to prepare earlier for this tournament,” said Mohd Izani Mahmood, the chief coach of Kelantan.
“We played well in the final, it was just too bad that we could not play our usual game due to the slipper ground.”
In the meantime, Kedah scored some consolation when they won third place in the tournament after beating Pulau Pinang 2-0 in the game that was played earlier in the morning.
Kedah’s goal were scored by Faez Faizal Nor in the 37th minute and Mohd Izwan Ghazali four minutes later. For their effort Kedah bagged RM5,000 while Pulau Pinang took home RM2,500.
The Champion of Champions, is supported by the National Football Development Committee, which is chaired by Dato’ Razali Ibrahim, the Malaysian deputy Minister of Youth and Sports.
PIX: The Perlis team celebrate their win with Dato’ Razali Ibrahim, the deputy Minister of Youth and Sports (in yellow/black shirt) and other members of the organizing commitee including Datuk Zolkples Embong, the director general of the National Sports Council and Datuk Dell Akbar Khan.
ROLL OF HONOUR
Best Goalkeeper: Mohd Shazwan Shafri (Perlis)
Best Defender: Fauzan Fazil (Perlis)
Best Midfielder: Wan Alif Aiman Rosmaidi (Kelantan)
Best Striker: Mohd Zafuan Azman (Perlis)
Most Valuable Player: Mohd Shazwan Shafri (Perlis)
Top Scorer: Mohd Zafuan Azman (Perlis) with 6 goals
Best Player of the Final match: Ammar Akhmall Alias (Perlis)
