Kota Kinabalu: The Indonesian team brushed aside Sabah team 5-0 in the final of the inaugural SMJ Cup Merdeka Football Festival Tournament at the Likas Stadium on Sunday night.
They took home the whopping RM120,000 cash prize while the losing finalists with organising chairman Datuk Peter Anthony in the team received RM70,000 and in third place with the RM50,000 cash were the Sabah SMJ team.
Sarawak came fourth to receive RM30,000 while the fifth to eighth place went to Selangor (RM24,000), Johor (RM24,000), Singapore (RM21,000) and Brunei (RM20,000).
The best team award went to Sabah while the Indonesians swept the individual awards with Mohd Sofeyan named the best goalkeeper, Edu Juanda as the top scorer and best player in the final was Michael Albert Watori.
Meanwhile, organising deputy chairman Datuk Juil Nuatim was happy to see the tournament had successfully reunited former State and national players.
”Although this is a competition, the most important thing is to strengthen the friendship between all the players.
“There are players who have not met for a long time and this tournament can be considered a success by providing the opportunity for them to meet again.
“I would like to thank the Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor for the support given to this tournament, and his presence to officiate the closing ceremony.
“Congratulations to all the teams and hopefully, this tournament will return again next year,” he said.
