PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian football team’s porous defence is driving coach Datuk K. Rajagopal up the wall.
Now he is praying hard for sweeper Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak to make a speedy recovery from injury to help plug the gap in his backline.
The team conceded five goals in the first leg of the Asian Zone World Cup second round qualifying match at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday which Malaysia lost 3-5.
Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak: Badly needed for the match. For the second leg at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Thursday, Rajagopal is banking on Mohd Aidil to beef up the defence.
The Negri Sembilan centre-back was dealt a cruel blow two days before the first leg in Singapore when he aggravated his ankle injury at the Jalan Besar Stadium during a training session.
Rajagopal had no choice but to leave out the hard-tacking player from the game and even ruled him out from the second-leg match. But to everyone’s surprise, Aidil managed a full training session with the rest of the team at the Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya yesterday.
“I feel good and I am ready for action ... you can count on me to fight for my place in the team before the big game against Singapore on Thursday,” declared Mohd Aidil yesterday.
The national team came under heavy fire following their heavy defeat to Singapore on Saturday. There were calls from the critics and the fans for a reshuffle of the back-line, who were guilty of conceding four soft goals. Mohd Muslim Ahmad, Mohd Fadhli Shas (centre-back), Mahalli Jasuli (right-back) and Mohd Asraruddin Putra Omar (left-back) started against Singapore on Saturday.
A fuming Rajagopal gave the team no rest for their errant ways. He put the squad straight into an evening training session after their return from Singapore on Sunday morning.
Aidil was a regular feature under Rajagopal for a couple of years. He was not a part of the victorious Suzuki Cup Asean Football Federation (AFF) championships last year due to injury.
Aidil played at the Laos SEA Games (Under-23 squad), who won the gold medal under Rajagopal in 2009.
Rajagopal said that he would monitor Aidil’s progress in the next couple of days before making a decision.
“I will have to observe him in the next couple of days,” said Rajagopal, who will certainly welcome back the aggressive playing centre-back, who scored two goals in the opening round against Taiwan in their 4-4 win on aggregate on the away-goals rule last month.
Aidil said that he had no fear of their Singapore counterparts and knew them well.
“We can get a positive result against Singapore, who rely heavily on their naturalised players. I was there at the stands and I feel we can overturn the two-goal deficit,” said a confident Aidil.
He said their dangerman, 41-year-old Aleksander Duric, is sharp with his finishes and quick on the turns inside the box.
“We have to shackle him in the return leg,” said Aidil. Yesterday, chief striker Mohd Safee Sali and midfielder Mohd Amirulhadi were rested as they were down with fever.
They should recover after a day’s rest.
THE STAR
Now he is praying hard for sweeper Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak to make a speedy recovery from injury to help plug the gap in his backline.
The team conceded five goals in the first leg of the Asian Zone World Cup second round qualifying match at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday which Malaysia lost 3-5.
Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak: Badly needed for the match.The Negri Sembilan centre-back was dealt a cruel blow two days before the first leg in Singapore when he aggravated his ankle injury at the Jalan Besar Stadium during a training session.
Rajagopal had no choice but to leave out the hard-tacking player from the game and even ruled him out from the second-leg match. But to everyone’s surprise, Aidil managed a full training session with the rest of the team at the Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya yesterday.
“I feel good and I am ready for action ... you can count on me to fight for my place in the team before the big game against Singapore on Thursday,” declared Mohd Aidil yesterday.
The national team came under heavy fire following their heavy defeat to Singapore on Saturday. There were calls from the critics and the fans for a reshuffle of the back-line, who were guilty of conceding four soft goals. Mohd Muslim Ahmad, Mohd Fadhli Shas (centre-back), Mahalli Jasuli (right-back) and Mohd Asraruddin Putra Omar (left-back) started against Singapore on Saturday.
A fuming Rajagopal gave the team no rest for their errant ways. He put the squad straight into an evening training session after their return from Singapore on Sunday morning.
Aidil was a regular feature under Rajagopal for a couple of years. He was not a part of the victorious Suzuki Cup Asean Football Federation (AFF) championships last year due to injury.
Aidil played at the Laos SEA Games (Under-23 squad), who won the gold medal under Rajagopal in 2009.
Rajagopal said that he would monitor Aidil’s progress in the next couple of days before making a decision.
“I will have to observe him in the next couple of days,” said Rajagopal, who will certainly welcome back the aggressive playing centre-back, who scored two goals in the opening round against Taiwan in their 4-4 win on aggregate on the away-goals rule last month.
Aidil said that he had no fear of their Singapore counterparts and knew them well.
“We can get a positive result against Singapore, who rely heavily on their naturalised players. I was there at the stands and I feel we can overturn the two-goal deficit,” said a confident Aidil.
He said their dangerman, 41-year-old Aleksander Duric, is sharp with his finishes and quick on the turns inside the box.
“We have to shackle him in the return leg,” said Aidil. Yesterday, chief striker Mohd Safee Sali and midfielder Mohd Amirulhadi were rested as they were down with fever.
They should recover after a day’s rest.
THE STAR
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