Football
Jason Dasey 9y

Pahang's Damion Stewart aims for Malaysian Super League title

After winning his fourth trophy in less than two seasons with Pahang FA, defender Damion Stewart has confirmed that he will return to the Malaysian east coast club next season. However, he hasn't changed his mind about coming out of his international exile with Jamaica.

Stewart converted a crucial penalty in the shoot-out as the Elephants won their second consecutive Malaysia Cup on Nov. 1 against heavily-favoured Johor Darul Takzim (JDT), having played the entire 120 minutes of the final. Pahang won 5-3 on penalties after it was deadlocked at 2-2 after extra time, despite being a man down for more than 50 minutes.

The 34-year-old centre-back, who plied his trade in England for eight years with clubs like Queens Park Rangers and Bradford City, has now won the 2013 and 2014 Malaysia Cups, the 2014 Malaysia FA Cup and the 2014 Charity Shield in 18 productive months with Zainal Abidin Hassan's side.

"This was probably the sweetest trophy for me because of what we had to overcome after a red-card [to defender Saifunizam Miswan in the 68th minute] and the fact that we were playing against such tough opposition," Stewart told ESPN FC. "It's never easy to mark a striker that plays the game with his brain and that's the type of player (Luciano) Figueroa is. He and (Jorge) Diaz link up well so that was a pretty tough battle for me.

"We played them five times in the season and didn't lose, winning three and drawing two. That's a credit to the boys."

With rumours about some of his teammates considering big-money offers at rival clubs, Stewart added that he would be staying with Pahang in 2015 for a third season in the Malaysian Super League.

"Yes, I will be here next season," Stewart said. "I will be staying with Pahang for at least another season and hopefully longer. I want to see if we can win more silverware in 2015, including the Malaysian Super League (MSL) title."

As for the nerve-racking penalty he converted in the Malaysia Cup shoot-out, Stewart admitted that it was the first competitive spot kick that he had ever attempted in his professional career. Earlier, Stewart had provided the pass that allowed striker Dickson Nwakaeme to equalise at 2-2 in the 71st minute.

"To be honest, no one expected that I wanted to take a penalty," he said. "In fact, I wasn't even selected because coach Zainal knew I didn't take penalties.

"But when it was 117 minutes on the clock, I told myself that if it ends up going to penalties I am taking one. I motivated and convinced myself that I could do it. It was a fantastic feeling when the ball went in the back of the net and I'll never forget it."

In the nail-biting shootout, Stewart and his former QPR teammate Zesh Rehman, who'd come on as a second half substitute, converted the second and fourth penalties respectively.

After Norsharul missed JDT's fourth spot kick, midfielder Hafiz Kamal clinched the trophy for Pahang when he beat goalkeeper Al-Hafiz Hamzah to complete a flawless set of penalties by the Elephants.

"I was so happy for Zainal who won his first Malaysia Cup. He is a football legend in Malaysia as a player and has now lifted the Malaysia Cup as a coach."

As for adding to his 57 caps with Jamaica dating back to 1999, Stewart insisted that he had no plans of opening the door to an international comeback, although he is planning an off-season break in the capital city of Kingston, with family and friends.

"As much as I've loved playing for Jamaica, international football is a thing of the past for me because of the 24-hour flight time to and from my country," he said. "I am not willing to stress my body like that anymore. I just want to focus on my club career and see how long I can prolong it for."

Last season, Stewart helped Pahang win their first Malaysia Cup trophy in 21 years and now they've won two on the trot. How he'd love to help Tok Gajah claim the MSL title for the first time in more than a decade in the 2015 season.

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