The first verse of the Counting Crows’ song Long December is most apt to describe the fortunes that have befallen Kuala Lumpur City’s hard man Kenny, in reverse though. While the tune from 1996 hopes for a better year forthcoming; for the Ipoh native, December was a high point in his career he would love to return to after the City Boys bagged their fourth Malaysia Cup in history, vanquishing money bags Johor DT in the final.
Personally for him, it’s not been great since May 17, 2022, the last featured for the city slickers in the domestic scene during the 2-1 come from behind win over Sarawak United in Kuching, after which he was put in ‘football jail’ by the custodians of the game, being banned for a certain period until further notice, for an ‘offence’ best left unwritten here.
The AFC Cup remains his only solace for playing time in the colours of the City Boys until the powers that be allow him back to the front in the domestic game, and he is keen to return to Kuala Lumpur City’s starting eleven beginning with tomorrow’s AFC Cup 2022 ASEAN Zonal Semi-final against Vietnam’s Viettel at the Thong Nhat Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and make it 3 out of 3 appearances for the Red & White’s in Asia’s secondary club level competition this season.
The popular portal Harimau Malaya captured the 29-year old in an interview on video, and here are his thoughts on a range of questions that are pertinent to his long absence.
“I’m happy (to return) because all this while I’ve not been able to be with the team on the pitch. I’ve been waiting for a long time for a chance to play, and I hope I get it tomorrow and I’ll give my best for KL(C), for us to win and create history again.”
“Definitely. I will be facing some challenges due to not playing for a long time. My match fitness maybe a little off, but with the support of my teammates and the little experience that I have in our (domestic) football league, I (do) hope to give my best.”
“As for the domestic scene, I ask all our supporters to remain patient as I have. Our team management is doing whatever they should to regain my services (on the pitch), and I would like to thank the management of KL(C), they did not leave the case just like that, they’ve helped me in all aspects. To my team, 2 months out is not a short time, I was down, but my teammates, coaches, all encouraged me, gave me the strength (to keep my head up high) and I hope to make my return soon.”
Kenny who joined the City Boys during the second transfer window last season from Perak and quickly established himself as a regular starter, informed that the technical team have been feeding them with plenty of data to aid their preparations for the match tomorrow.
“We are in the midst of preparing as much as possible to face Viettel. We hope our preparations will be enough to win tomorrow. I hope all of us are in the best condition to give our best. Like all the games we’ve been involved in, we want to win, we want to reach the playoff, but in victory or defeat, we will put up a performance to make the KL-ites and Malaysians proud. (We) want (to) transform all our feelings into this game. So I hope our fans, no matter what happens, remain firmly behind us, supporting us.”
The AFC Cup ASEAN Zonal Semi-final between Viettel and Kuala Lumpur City is on Wednesday, August 10, 2022, at 6.00pm local time (1900hrs Malaysian timr), at the Thong Nhat Stadium, District 10, Saigon.
Tickets for the AFC Cup match against Viettel is available at the venue (physical purchase only).
For our City Boys back home in Malaysia, please tune in to Astro Arena 2, to catch the match live.