Defeat to Persebaya a lesson to toughen up the Rhinos

Sabah coach Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto wants his men to turn their mistakes quickly into valuable lessons after losing 1-3 to Persebaya Surabaya in their East Java Governor Cup opener.

The Rhinos took the lead in their Group B match through Hector Ramos (pic, sixth minute) but Persebaya claimed the win with goals from David da Silva (eighth and 40th) and Irfan Jaya (90th+3) at the Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium on Saturday.

Premier League champions Sabah paraded all five of their imports – Ramos, Dennis Buschening, Rodoljub Paunovic, Petrus Shitembi and Park Tae-soo – for the first time and Kurniawan was pleased with the chance to test his players.

“We were looking for quality matches to test the players and we got what we wanted in this game despite the defeat. Persebaya are last season runners-up in the Indonesian league and their imports are of top quality,” said Kurniawan.

“We got an early goal in the game and were in control in the first 35 minutes but after that, the opponents took charge.”

“Persebaya fans gave us an idea on what to expect in the Super League. Our first league game will be an away match against Police on March 1 so this was a good exposure.

Sabah will next take on another Indonesian giant Arema tomorrow and Kurniawan said he did not want his men to commit silly mistakes.

“We were guilty of making individual errors. We need to be more careful with our passing. In modern football, you can’t be losing the ball due to you own mistakes ... we need to fix this, maybe the players were too nervous against Persebaya,” he said.

“I hope the players will put up a better showing against Arema. I’m not concerned with the result as I want to find the best combinations and see them improve as a team.”

We were looking for quality matches to test the players and we got what we wanted in this game despite the defeat. Kurniawan Dwi Yulianto