SMK Taman Desa, which is also the Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) Under-17 Academy, defended the KPM-FAM U17 Youth Cup League title for the second time in two years after scoring a narrow 1-0 victory over SMK Mutiara Impian at the Pasir Gudang Stadium on Saturday.
Playing at home clearly gave Pau Valldecabres Gimeno’s boys certain confidence when Abid Safaraz Rozaidi found the back of the net early but was ruled offside.
That disappointment did not sit too long where after continuous pressing SMK Taman Desa nailed the opener in the 35th minute when Arrayan Hakeem Norizam made good on the cross from Muhd ​​Nur Hakim Mohd Irwan for a low shot past SMK Mutiara Impian keeper Mohd Hafiz Hazwan Aziz Jaafar.
Both teams then upped the tempo soon after with Mohd Hafiz and his opposite Muhd ​​Naqqiudin Zamzuri for SMK Taman Desa having to work hard between the posts to deny the flurry of attempts.
As the frustration for SMK Mutiara Impian grew well into the second half, SMK Taman Desa just sat back to defend their lead and the championship for two years in a row.
Pau Valldecabres praised the quality of the game where he highlighted by the tenacity of the visiting team in putting a lot of pressure on his proteges throughout the match.
“We (JDT Academy) always want to improve the quality of the game every time. We are satisfied to be champions but we know we can play better,” said Pau Valldecabres.
“We have to congratulate the Penang team (SMK Mutiara Impian) because they are a good team and it is not easy to play in the final,”
For the record, in 2023, JDT Academy U17 also scored a narrow 1-0 victory over SMK Syed Hassan at the Pasir Gudang Stadium.
Pau Valldecabres added, “the focus for these players is to compete in the 2025 Youth Cup and they need to find that winning mentality because that is the mission of JDT, to find that winning mentality.”
On the other hand Noraffendi Taib, head coach of SMK Mutiara Impian, said that small mistakes cost the team but commended his players for their hard resistance against JDT.
“A small mistake at the start of the game cost us but we managed to recover. In spite of the rain, we still gave an intense game against a JDT side with several national players.
“We had two or three opportunities (to score) but we didn’t take advantage of them.” said Noraffendi.
Other than the championship, SMK Tama Desa also took two awards, namely for the Best Goalkeeper for Muhammad Naqqiudin Zamzuri and Abid Safaraz Rozaidi who was selected the Most Valuable Player Award.
KPM FAM B17 YOUTH CUP LEAGUE AWARDS
Top Scorer of the KPM-FAM U17 Youth Cup Super League
Muhammad Aniq Haikal Bin Ramlee – SMK Mutiara Impian (SSN Penang) – 8 goals
Best Goalkeeper
Muhammad Naqqiudin bin Zamzuri – SMK Taman Desa (JDT Academy)
Most Valuable Player
Abid Safaraz bin Rozaidi – SMK Taman Desa (JDT Academy)
Fair Play Award
SMK Mutiara Impian (SSN Penang)
