JDT 14 out!
Cheng Hoe drops 14 JDT players from national team
In a shocking move, national coach Tan Cheng Hoe (pic) has released all the 14 Johor Darul Ta’zim players from his squad which drew 2-2 with Mongolia in Thursday’s international friendly – after being accused of favouritism! The former Kedah coach said he made the drastic move to “fulfil the fans’ wish”.
PETALING JAYA: In a shocking move, national coach Tan Cheng Hoe has released all the 14 Johor Darul Ta’zim players from his squad which drew 2-2 with Mongolia – after being accused of favouritism!
Among the 14, nine of them featured in Thursday’s international friendly which saw the home team’s winless run continue since November 2016.
The JDT players released were captain Safiq Rahim, Ahmad Hazwan Bakri, Darren Lok, Nazmi Faiz Mansor, Safawi Rasid, Fadhli Shas, Fazly Mazlan, S. Kunanlan, Afiq Fazail, Syafiq Ahmad, Adam Nor Azlin, Haziq Nadzli, Natxo Insa and La’vere Corbin-Ong.
Nine replacements – Zaquan Adha Abdul Razak of Kuala Lumpur, Shahrel Fikri Fauzi, (PKNP), Jafri Firdaus Chew and Shahril Saari (PKNS), Nor Hakim Hassan, Nazirul Naim Che Hashim and Syazwan Zaipol Bahari (Perak), Syawal Nordin (Kedah) and M. Kogileswaran (Pahang) - have been called up for training at the Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya today.
Cheng Hoe’s move has certainly raised some eyebrows as Malaysia have a match against Lebanon in Beirut for the last Asian Cup qualifier next Tuesday and against Nepal in a second friendly match on April 1.
The former Kedah coach said he made the drastic move to “fulfil the fans’ wish”.
“I thought the starting 11 that we picked against Mongolia were made up of the best players we have at our disposal. However, many fans accused us of favouritism because we have started with 90% of JDT players,” he said.
“They (yesterday’s team) have done their best and now we want to open up opportunities to the other players when we face Lebanon. That’s why we let all the JDT players go, perhaps that’s what the fans wanted.”
When asked if he intends to select players from the Malaysian Super League winners for future call-ups, Cheng Hoe did not want to elaborate.
“The only thing that matters now is the match against Lebanon. Although it’s a dead rubber, I still want to make sure that we come back with a good result. That’s my duty as a coach, to make sure the team that I pick give their 100% in a match,” he said.
Meanwhile, Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) secretary-general Datuk Hamidin Amin has asked the disappointed fans to be patient as Cheng Hoe is trying to build a squad to contend for AFF Suzuki Cup later this year.
“We must be realistic as it was the first match for the Harimau Malaya squad under the supervision of Cheng Hoe, who has just gathered the platers for five days since last Sunday,” said Hamidin in a statement.