Skip to main content

Not a problem for Tigers

FOCUS: Rajagobal assures back-to-back ties will have no effect on squad

.
Manchester City FC chief brand and commercial officer Ian Cafferky (second from left) presents a Manchester City jersey to Datuk K. Rajagobal (second from right) at their meeting at the Palace of Golden Horses yesterday. Looking on are Manchester City sales marketing manager Omar Berrada (left) and FAM vice-president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal. Pic by Yazit Razali

NATIONAL coach Datuk K. Rajagobal brushed off fears that the back-to-back matches against Arsenal and Manchester City, slated for July, would affect his team's focus and preparation for the AFF Cup.
His team's failure to overcome Singapore in the World Cup qualifiers last July was largely due to their involvement in exhibition matches against Arsenal and Liverpool, which were played in the same month.
"Those matches might have had affected my players. We, however, have enough time to prepare for the AFF Cup, as it only starts in late November," said Rajagobal on the sidelines of the announcement of English Premier League club Manchester City's Asia tour in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

"I want my team to use this opportunity to learn from City, who I'm sure will be eager to impress in their first ever visit to Kuala Lumpur.

"It is not always that we get a chance to play against a top club. I've tested more than 60 players since January but only the best will be called up for the City match."

Rajagobal, however, will not consider imported players from the M-League for matches against Arsenal (July 24) and City (July 30).

"I will only use locals as I want to gauge them in high quality matches. Furthermore, July is a crucial month as I will be trimming my training squad for the AFF Cup," the coach added. Rajagobal, however, became agitated when asked about his team's poor international form of late.

"Have we lost this year? No. Which means we are on the right footing.
"I hope fans will be patient. I have been testing new players for options as I want only the best for the AFF Cup," he said.

The national team have not won an international match since last June's 2-1 win over Taiwan in the first round of the World Cup Qualifiers.

Fans are close to losing their patience and Rajagobal's side need a favourable result against Sri Lanka on Saturday to regain their confidence.

Malaysia have been finding it tough to get international matches despite being the regional champions. They drew 1-1 with the Philippines in their only international match this season on Feb 29.
"We need to beat Sri Lanka to build our momentum for the AFF Cup. I do not want any more excuses from the players," said Rajagobal.

"I've got a decent squad for this match which includes seven or eight uncapped players and some with limited international experience while the others are regulars."




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ex-coach's jail sentence cut to a year

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...
2 comments
Read more

Badminton: Fans rooting for all-Malaysian semis

Reports: RAJES PAUL KUALA LUMPUR: The home fans will be rooting for an all-Malaysian men’s singles semi-final between Lee Chong Wei and Liew Daren. But Chong Wei is more fancied to advance than Daren in quarter-final matches against Indonesian Simon Santoso and Dane Peter Gade-Christensen respectively at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil today. Yesterday, Chong Wei defeated Vietnamese Nguyen Tien Minh 21-9, 18-21, 21-7 in a second-round match that saw the world number one struggling to adapt to the draught in the stadium in the second game. And Daren continued a fairy tale run in his home Open, blowing away a toothless Hsueh Hsuan-yi of Taiwan 21-14, 21-12. Although Choong Wei had to slog for the win over Tien Minh, the top seed and defending champion felt that he was playing better by the day. “I got off to a good start but found it hard to cope with the draught. I tried to catch up after losing my momentum but that did not happen and I decided to conserve energy for ...
11 comments
Read more

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...
4 comments
Read more