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Football: No special treatment for 'special ones'



Singapore skipper Shahril Ishak going for a ‘triple heading’ at the Maybank training centre in Bangi on Monday. — Picture by Effendy Rashid
Singapore skipper Shahril Ishak going for a ‘triple heading’ at the Maybank training centre in Bangi on Monday. — Picture by Effendy Rashid
 
SINGAPORE'S naturalised players have been described as the "special ones" by national coach K. Rajagobal but his players will not give them any special treatment in tomorrow's World Cup qualifier return leg. Bosnian-born Aleksandar Duric, together with Mustafic Fahrudin (Serbia), Daniel Bennett (England), Shi Jiayi and Qiu Li (China) were in their element in Singapore's 5-3 victory over Malaysia in last weekend's first leg.

The 41-year-old Duric outfoxed a young Malaysian defence to score a brace while Fahrudin, Jiayi and Qiu Li added the other goals.

"They are Singapore's lifeline. We will pay some attention to them but we will not go overboard," said Rajagobal at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya yesterday.
"Our priority is to score goals and defend well. I will not resort to man-to-man marking as the system will not work for a team who need to win the match."

Besides the five naturalised players, Singapore's own Shahril Ishak and Hariss Harun are also capable of turning the match in midfield. Both players did a superb job in the first leg to frustrate Malaysia's midfield led by captain Safiq Rahim.

On the hosts' confidence ahead of tomorrow's match, Rajagobal said his players are mentally and physically prepared.

"My young players made mistakes on the artificial turf in Singapore and lost the match... but this is not an excuse. We played badly in the first half but did better after the breather," said the coach, himself a former international.

"I have gone through the video with the players to see what went wrong. A few players who did not play well, were also advised to buck up. Overall, everyone is eager."

Rajagobal has also called on the local fans to turn up in full force to support the national team.

"I want Malaysians to come in large numbers and play their part in this crucial tie as we play better in front of our fans," he said. Up to yesterday, 60,000 tickets for the match have been sold.

When asked about Malaysia's target in the World Cup qualifiers, Rajagobal said the tournament is part of the team's preparations for the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia.

"My target is to help Malaysia qualify for the Asian Cup. My main objective is to prepare a formidable team for this challenge.

"We need to do our best in the World Cup qualifiers as a good performance will help in the players' development. It is also important that we at least beat Singapore."

Read more: NST

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