Amri to soldier on

NATIONAL captain Amri Yahyah has postponed his plan to retire from international football in the light of Malaysia’s failure in the AFF Cup.

Amri had initially announced that he would retire after the AFF Cup but the 35year-old feels he can still contribute significantly to the national team.

“I do not have plans to retire from international football. I will play as long I am needed but of course, plans could change as I am not young anymore,” said Amri, the oldest member of the AFF Cup squad and the team’s top scorer with two goals, yesterday.

“I urge the fans to continue supporting us. It is just a hiccup which we will definitely bounce back from,” he said.

Amri was one of four players in their thirties who played in Yangon. The others were Safee Sali, Ronny Harun and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha.

The winger was also one of nine players who featured in all three matches (including as substitutes) in the tournament.

Despite his age, Amri was one of the better performers compared to some other seniors who failed to spark in all three matches.

Malaysia’s midfielders Baddrol Bakhtiar, Irfan Fazail and Ahmad Fakri Saarani were ineffective and it caused problems as they were inconsistent in supporting the defenders and attacking players.

Among those who shone were defenders Ronny Harun and Rizal Ghazali along with winger Syazwan Zainon.

Centre-back Ronny impressed with his quick reading of the game while Rizal was solid as a rock in the right-back position. Syazwan was Malaysia’s best flanker as despite his inexperience, he was not afraid of taking on defenders and moving forward.

Ronny, 32, said he has learnt a lot from his two appearances in the AFF Cup.

“I want to continue playing for the country. We gave our best in every match and I think we were just unlucky at the end. We created chances against Vietnam and Myanmar but could not convert them,” said Ronny.