Winning Malaysia Cup with KL City my greatest success thus far - Zhafri

Zhafri Yahya, the Man of the Match of the Malaysia Cup 2021 final last night, described winning the most prestigious trophy in Malaysian football with Kuala Lumpur (KL) City FC (KL City) as the greatest success in his career so far.

"I have been with Kuala Lumpur for six years, this is the highest achievement I have had and I am really grateful to the coach (Bojan Hodak) because he identified the position that I like.

"Tonight (last night) I may have missed two chances but in the end I got one that I really did not want to let go. The first goal gave encouragement to the team and being the underdogs we tried to focus for 90 minutes not to lose to JDT (Johor Darul Ta'zim)," said the 27-year-old winger. who hails from Klang, Selangor.

He said this at a press conference after the Malaysia Cup final which saw KL City beat defending champions JDT 2-0 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil here.

Zhafri has been with KL City known as Kuala Lumpur before since he was loaned out from Selangor six seasons ago, which saw the City Boys go through a time of being promoted to and relegated from the Super League during that period.

Zhafri's goal in the 66th minute broke the deadlock in the final of the 100th anniversary of the Malaysia Cup before team captain Paulo Josue doubled the lead in the 74th minute to create a glorious night for KL City and end their 32-year wait of the trophy for Kuala Lumpur supporters.

The last time Kuala Lumpur won the Malaysia Cup was in 1989, whereby they created a hat-trick of titles after also winning it in 1987 and 1988.

Zhafri said the plus factor that became KL City's strength to win the prestigious tournament was the family spirit that existed among the players and team officials.

"From the management, players, seniors and juniors, all are indeed of 'one heart'. We are really like a family, we not only listen to the instructions of the coaches but from the senior players as well. We try to analyse matches and how to play against the next opponent," he said.

Meanwhile, Zhafri confirmed that he will remain with KL City next season.

-- BERNAMA