BOSKO Balaban marked his return to competitive football after 10 months by scoring on his debut with Selangor in their 2-1 win over Kelantan in a Super League match at Bukit Jalil on Tuesday.
The Croatian striker made a huge difference for Selangor as his fluid movements and ball control provided the former league champions the extra edge to end Kelantan's unbeaten run.
"A good start and I am very satisfied. It feels good to be playing competitive football once again after failing to do so for 10 months because of problems with my former club in Greece," said Balaban on Tuesday.
"I have not set personal targets here. I do not want to put myself under that kind of pressure. My priority is to get my confidence and fitness back."
On scoring his first M-League goal, Balaban said he was glad to play an instrumental role in Selangor's win.
"Selangor hired me to score goals and I am happy to get one in my very first match for them. Quite frankly, I do not know much about the Malaysian league but I guess it is tough and competitive.
"I also need to adapt to the humidity and, hopefully, I would be able to soon," said Balaban, who played in the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.
The victory over Kelantan meant a lot to Selangor players, who celebrated for a few minutes in the dressing room before coach Irfan Bakti Abu Salim attended to the media.
Irfan praised his players especially Balaban for giving their best.
"We dominated and scored two goals but we almost blew it in the last 10 or 20 minutes when we allowed Kelantan back into the match," said Irfan.
"With Balaban available, I believe Selangor have solved their scoring problem. The best is yet to come from my players," added the coach.
Selangor begin their FA Cup campaign with an away match against Shahzan Muda in Temerloh on Saturday.