SABAH FC head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee has attributed his players’ lack of fitness as one of the reasons they lost 3-0 to Australian club Macarthur FC in the ASEAN Zone semi-finals at the Campbelltown Sports Stadium in Sydney today.

He said his players also made mistakes that led to Macarthur FC scoring a goal.

“We tried to (make a) comeback but it wasn’t easy. We lost concentration... Macarthur had better quality,“ he told a press conference after the match in Sydney today.

The recording of the press conference was made available to Bernama here today.

Kim Swee said that despite their exit, the competition proved very useful in improving Sabah’s performance, especially with the Super League starting soon.

“This match is useful as an experience to increase the confidence of the players and the team (in order) for us to move forward,“ he said.

Sabah advanced to the ASEAN Zone semi-finals after emerging as Group H champions with 12 points while Macarthur were Group F champions with 18 points.–Bernama