NST Online: Sports

Football: Safiq makes his intention clear

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 05:09 PM PDT

2011/08/04
Ajitpal Singh
ajitpalsingh@nst.com.my

Safiq Rahim(left) is keen to join Safee Sali in the Indonesian league.

SELANGOR manager Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin has confirmed that national team captain Safiq Rahim has made it "perfectly clear" that he wants to leave the team.

The midfielder has been linked with numerous top clubs in the Indonesia Super League after the national team won the AFF Cup for the first time last December. Hamidin said while Safiq wishes to leave, there is a glimmer of hope of keeping him with Selangor.

"Yes, Safiq wants to leave the club, he has made that perfectly clear. He spoke to me about the (Indonesian) offers a few days ago," said Hamidin yesterday.

"At the moment he is a Selangor player and will be treated like a Selangor player until he no longer is."

Indonesian news portals have over the past few weeks linked Safiq with Persib Bandung and Persija Jakarta.

Hamidin stressed that Safiq will not be released during the season. "I've told him (Safiq) to speak to me about it after the Malaysia Cup. We want him to focus on the mission ahead," he said.

Winger Amirulhadi Zainal is also rumoured to be linked with Indonesian clubs but Hamidin said the national player has not spoken to him about it.

Meanwhile, Selangor may drop one of their three new signings on loan from Young Tigers for a goalkeeper for next month's Malaysia Cup.

The three are Young Tigers B captain D. Saarvindran and two Young Tigers A reserve players -- Haziq Zikri Elias and Muhd Nazri Ahmad.

Third choice keeper Mohd Fairul Shahrullai has been ruled out of the Malaysia Cup due to injury and to replace him Selangor are looking at signing USM's G. Jeevananthan, who is on trial with the club.

"According to Malaysia Cup rules, we can hire a maximum of three players. Besides that, teams must register at least three goalkeepers.

"We may have to drop one of our new signings for Jeevananthan. An official announcement will be made soon," Hamidin added.

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Football: Team urged to move forward

Posted: 03 Aug 2011 05:02 PM PDT

2011/08/04
T.N.Alagesh
nstsport@nstp.com.my

National coach K. Rajagobal expects his charges to bounce back after their disappointing loss to Singapore in the World Cup Qualifiers.

THE national team must put aside the disappointment of failing to advance into the group stages of the Asian Zone World Cup Qualifiers and focus on retaining the AFF Cup and qualifying for the 2015 Asian Cup.

FA of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah said he is aware of the enormous task at hand but national coach K. Rajagobal must find a way to motivate his squad after they were beaten 6-4 on aggregate by Singapore in the two-leg second round last week.

Tengku Abdullah said Rajagobal and his coaching staff must figure out what went wrong and address the problems. "There were some criticisms on the team's tactics, strategy and choice of players. It will be discussed at the FAM technical meeting soon.

"After the defeat, various parties have come forward to voice out their views and I have mine too," said Tengku Abdullah in Muadzam Shah, Rompin on Tuesday.

Tengku Abdullah said FAM will hold a post-mortem of both matches. Turning to Rajagobal's target of getting Malaysia to qualify for the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia, Tengku Abdullah said he was optimistic the coach will be able to put together a formidable side.

"It must be remembered that it's a young batch of players and Rajagobal will have to get them ready in the next two years," he said.

"The young players need to gain more experience on the international stage so the FAM will help arrange more matches to expose them to competitive matches."

The friendly match against Oman on Aug 9 in Muscat has been called off but they will play the Indonesian national side in September.

On the Olympic squad currently in Slovakia preparing for the Asian Olympic qualifiers, Tengku Abdullah said FAM does not want to put pressure on team.

The national Olympic team, who have been drawn in Group C with Japan, Syria and Bahrain, are expected to return from Slovakia on Aug 28 before travelling to South Korea for a friendly match.

They open their Olympic qualifying campaign against Japan on Sept 21 before meeting Syria (Nov 23) and Bahrain (Nov 27) at the National Stadium.

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Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Rabu, 3 Ogos 2011

NST Online: Sports

NST Online: Sports

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