Rangel, who is no newcomer to the Malaysian Football League, refused to warm up after he was not named to the first team for the JDT match. Instead, he cut a lone figure on the bench while the rest of the Kedah players were warming up before the match.
“The defeat is one thing. We accept the defeat as we did not have our first team for the JDT match. However, we cannot accept what Rangel did…he refused to warm up with the rest of the team after he came to know that he was not in the first team plans.
“Before the match, Rangel even refused to shake hands with Kedah team officials. Instead, he sat on the bench all alone. Football is not a one-man show. It is a team game and the match strategies are decided by the team coaches and officials,” said an upset Nidzam.
“He is a professional player but his attitude is unbecoming. We (team officials) have decided to sideline him for the rest of the matches.”
Rangel has been plied his football trade in Malaysia since 2013 when he first joined Perak on loan from Thai club Muangthong United. He then joined Selangor (2013-14) before he moved east to play for Terengganu (2014-15).
The Brazilian then moved south to join JDT but found difficult breaking into the first team and was relegated to the Southern Tigers feeder squad (JDT ll) and scored 19 goals during his one year stint in 2016.
Last year he returned to Brazil and had a brief stint with Londrina before returning to Thailand to play for Nakhon Ratchasima. He joined Kedah in mid-season this year and has five goals to credit so far.
Kedah first team players who were not on the list for the JDT match either because of national duty or injuries or playing for the President’s Cup team:
1) Ifwat Akmal (Malaysia U-23)
2) Rizal Ghazali (Malaysia U-23)
3) Baddrol Bakhtiar (Malaysia U-23)
4)Akhyar Rashid (Malaysia U-23)
5) Liridon Krasniqi (injured)
6) Paulo Rangel (refused to warm up)
7) Khairul Helmi (injured)
8) Arif Farhan (injured)
9) Farhan Roslan (injured)
10) Hidhir Idris (playing in President’s Cup)
11) Daniel Nizam (President’s Cup)
12) Muhd Fikhri Zulkifie (President’s Cup)
13) Akmal Azmi (President’s Cup)
After two matches, Kedah is lying at the bottom with only one point to show derived from the scoreless draw against Kelantan at home in their first match.
MISC-MIFA is on top with six points after winning both their opening two matches – against JDT (2-1) and Kelantan (2-0). JDT is second on three points. Kelantan and Kedah have one point each. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
