Injury woes strike national team ahead of Indonesia friendly
KELANA JAYA: The injury jinx has struck the national football team, again.
The latest to fall victims to the injury curse are midfielder Brendan Gan (back) and striker Ahmad Hazwan Bakri (ankle).
Earlier, six others injured players had pulled out of the team – Izham Tarmizi Roslan, Junior Eldstal, Fazly Mazlan, Mahalli Jasuli (all from JDT); Shahrom Kalam (Selangor); and Christie Jayaseelan (Felda).
National team coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee must be cursing his luck as he tries to raise a team for the international friendly against Indonesia at the Manahan Stadium in Solo on Sept 6.
The friendly is part of Kim Swee’s preparations for the AFF Suzuki Cup campaign in November.
His task had been made more difficult with the retirement of four seasoned campaigners from JDT – centreback Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak, rightback S. Kunalan and midfielders Amirulhadi Zainal and Safiq Rahim.
The latest injury setback has only compounded Kim Swee’s misery.
“Everyone has reported for duty, expect for leftback Nazirul Naim (Che Hashim). We are still waiting for him to get in touch with us,” said Kim Swee.
“All those who have reported for duty have played through a gruelling round of fixtures in the M-League, so their condition is worrying. We will focus on their recovery for the next two or maybe three days.”
For now, Kim Swee has not called up any replacements for Brendan and Hazwan.
Kim Swee has also yet to decide on the team’s new skipper following the retirement of Safiq.
“Mohd Amri (Yahya), Brendan, Baddrol (Bakthiar) and Khairul Fahmi (Che Mat) are known for their leadership qualities, but there’s still time for me to name a new captain,” said the former international.
Twenty-four players have been called up for the centralised training camp. Only Nazirul has yet to report for duty.