2012 LionsXII season

LionsXII
2012 season
ChairmanZainudin Nordin
ManagerV. Sundramoorthy
StadiumJalan Besar Stadium
Malaysia Super League2nd
Malaysia FA CupQuarter-finals
Malaysia CupSemi-finals
Top goalscorerLeague:
Shahril Ishak (10)
All:
Shahril Ishak (14)
2013 →

The 2012 season was LionsXII's debut season in the Malaysia Super League. LionsXII returned to Malaysia competitions 18 years after their predecessor withdrew from the competitions. The Lions finished MSL runners-up at the end of the season.

Malaysia Super League

LionsXII debuted in the 2012 Malaysia Super League on 10 January 2012 with a 1–2 home defeat to defending champions Kelantan FA.[1] The Lions's first win was a 2–1 victory over Kuala Lumpur FA on 17 January.[2] They achieved the biggest win in the season by defeating Sabah FA 9–0 on 16 June 2012. LionsXII eventually finished second in the league behind Kelantan FA.

On 29 December 2012, assistant coach Kadir Yahaya left his position at LionsXII and was replaced by Gombak United FC chief K. Balagumaran.[3]

Date Pos. Opponents H/A Score Goalscorers
10 Jan 10th Kelantan H 1–2 Baihakki Khaizan 33'
14 Jan 12th Kedah A 0–0
17 Jan 8th Kuala Lumpur H 2–1 Aiman Syazwan 43' (og), Shahdan Sulaiman 56'
21 Jan 6th Sabah A 0–1 Hariss Harun 19'
28 Jan 7th Terengganu H 0–1
8 Feb 6th Selangor A 1–1 Shahril Ishak 43'
11 Feb 4th Negeri Sembilan H 3–1 Shahril Ishak 30' (pen), 60', Shahdan Sulaiman 49'
14 Feb 4th Perak A 1–2 Shahril Ishak 35', 74'
6 Mar 2nd FELDA United H 3–1 Hariss Harun 6', Sufian Anuar 51', Shahril Ishak 67' (pen)
17 Mar 3rd Sarawak A 0–1 Shahril Ishak 10' (pen)
20 Mar 2nd Selangor H 1–1 Sufian Anuar 62'
31 Mar 2nd T-Team H 2–1 Shahril Ishak 51', Shahdan Sulaiman 85' (pen)
3 Apr 1st Negeri Sembilan A 2–4 Safuwan Baharudin 14', Khairul Nizam 20', Shahril Ishak 41',
Shahdan Sulaiman 70'
7 Apr 1st Johor FC A 0–1 Khairul Nizam 42'
10 Apr 1st Perak H 2–1 Shahdan Sulaiman 43' (pen), Irwan Shah 87'
14 Apr 1st PKNS A 1–0
17 Apr 1st PKNS H 5–0 Safuwan Baharudin 17', Shaiful Esah 19', Sevki Sha'ban 26',
Agu Casmir 53', 84'
4 May 1st Kelantan A 3–0
8 May 1st FELDA United A 0–2 Shaiful Esah 31', Shahdan Sulaiman 76'
12 May 1st Kedah H 3–3 Shahril Ishak 10', Sufian Anuar 29', Baihakki Khaizan 57'
15 May 1st Kuala Lumpur A 0–0
22 May 1st Sarawak H 3–0 Safuwan Baharudin 7', Agu Casmir 36', 63'
16 Jun 1st Sabah H 9–0 Casmir 19', Hariss 22', 41', 73', Shahdan 62', 65', Irwan 68', Sufian 84', Shahrul 88' (og)
19 Jun 2nd Terengganu A 0–1 Sufian Anuar 90'
10 Jul 2nd T-Team A 2–1 Bojan Petrić 26' (og)
14 Jul 2nd Johor FC H 0–1

Final standings

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Kelantan (C, Q) 26 18 6 2 53 18 +35 60 2013 AFC Cup group stage
2 LionsXII[a] 26 15 5 6 48 23 +25 50
3 Selangor (Q) 26 12 7 7 40 26 +14 43 2013 AFC Cup group stage[b]
4 Perak 26 13 3 10 40 43 −3 42
5 Terengganu 26 11 8 7 41 33 +8 41
Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated
Notes:
  1. ^ LionsXII are not eligible for any AFC competition spots
  2. ^ Qualified as the next highest-placed local team behind Liga Super and 2012 Piala FA winners Kelantan.

Malaysia FA Cup

LionsXII began their 2012 Malaysia FA Cup quest on 18 February, with a 3–0 win over UiTM FC.[4] The LionsXII made their way to the quarter-final with a 2–0 win over Betaria FC[5] on 10 March 2012. However, they were beaten by Terengganu FA in the quarter-finals.

Date Round Opponents H/A Score Goalscorers
18 Feb Round of 32 UiTM A 0–3 Shaiful Esah 32', Madhu Mohana 15',
Shahir Ismail 83' (og)
10 Mar Round of 16 Betaria H 2–0 Shahril Ishak 55', Sufian Anuar 84'
24 Mar Quarter-finals Terengganu A 1–0
27 Mar Quarter-finals Terengganu H 0–0

Malaysia Cup

The Lions marked their return to their most successful competition with a 0–0 draw away to Johor FC. They eventually bowed out in the semi-finals after losing a penalty shootout to ATM FA with the score tied at 2–2 after extra time.

Date Round Opponents H/A Score Goalscorers
22 Aug Group stage Johor FC A 0–0
25 Aug Group stage PKNS H 3–1 Khairul Amri 13', Shaiful Esah 18', Shahril Ishak 48'
28 Aug Group stage Johor FA A 0–0
1 Sep Group stage Johor FA H 1–0 Khairul Amri 2'
4 Sep Group stage PKNS A 1–0
14 Sep Group stage Johor FC H 0–0
25 Sep Quarter-finals Pahang A 2–1 Jalaluddin Jaafar 20' (og)
2 Oct Quarter-finals Pahang H 2–0 Shahril Ishak 35', 78'
5 Oct Semi-finals ATM H 1–1 Safuwan Baharudin 81'
11 Oct Semi-finals ATM A 1–1 (aet)
5–4 (pso) 		Agu Casmir 27'

Squad statistics

Squad
No. 		Pos. Name Malaysia Super League Malaysia FA Cup Malaysia Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
1 GK Izwan Mahbud 11 0 1 0 8 0 20 0
2 MF Fazli Ayob 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
3 DF Shaiful Esah 16 2 1 1 10 1 27 4
4 MF Isa Halim 23 0 3 0 8 0 34 0
5 DF Baihakki Khaizan 16 2 0 0 10 0 26 2
6 DF Madhu Mohana 11 0 4 1 2 0 17 1
8 MF Shahdan Sulaiman 25 8 4 0 10 0 39 8
9 MF Taufiq Rahmat 5 0 1 0 0 0 6 0
10 FW Khairul Amri 6 0 0 0 9 2 15 2
11 FW Agu Casmir 14 5 0 0 6 1 20 6
14 MF Hariss Harun (vc) 22 5 2 0 10 0 34 5
16 DF Raihan Rahman 7 0 0 0 1 0 8 0
17 FW Shahril Ishak (c) 19 10 3 1 10 3 32 14
18 GK Hyrulnizam Juma'at 16 0 3 0 2 0 21 0
19 DF Irwan Shah 23 2 3 0 9 0 35 2
20 FW Quentin Chen 15 2 2 0 0 0 17 2
21 DF Safuwan Baharudin 13 3 2 0 4 1 19 4
22 MF Sevki Sha'ban 18 1 3 0 6 0 27 1
23 DF Juma'at Jantan 17 0 0 0 4 0 21 0
24 MF Firdaus Kasman 15 0 3 0 5 0 23 0
25 FW Sufian Anuar 17 5 2 1 1 0 20 6
26 DF Shakir Hamzah 14 0 3 0 0 0 17 0
27 MF Yasir Hanapi 20 0 1 0 7 0 28 0
28 FW Safirul Sulaiman 7 0 2 0 9 0 18 0
29 MF Pravin Guanasagaran 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
30 GK Al-Faiz Ishak 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
31 GK Khairulhin Khalid 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
32 DF Abdil Qaiyyim 2 0 0 0 3 0 5 0
- DF Shakir Hamzah 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
- MF Gabriel Quak 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
- MF Izzdin Shafiq 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

  Registered mid-season window
  De-registered mid-season window

  • LionsXII were restricted to Under-28 players in their first MSL season.
  • The number 12 is retired in honour of the fans, also known as the "twelfth man".

References

  1. ^ Singh, Patwant. "Football: Kelantan beat LionsXII 2–1 in opening Malaysia Super League". Channel News Asia. Archived from the original on 13 February 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  2. ^ Singh, Patwant. "Football: LionsXII beat KL FA 2–1". Channel News Asia. Archived from the original on 19 January 2012. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  3. ^ "Kadir to leave LionsXII". www.asiaone.com.
  4. ^ Malaysia FA Cup 2012: Wonder-goal sets LionsXII to comfortable 3–0 victory – Straits Times, 18 February 2012
  5. ^ LIONSXII through to the Quarter-Finals of the Malaysian FA Cup Archived 14 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine – LIONSXII, 10 March 2012