KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 — Veteran player, Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak, described his return to Harimau Malaya as the highest recognition for him to continue serving the national squad.
The Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) centre-back aged 32 who was recalled by Tan Cheng Hoe in a list of 27 players for centralised training was determined to repay the confidence of the chief coach by assisting Malaysia to beat Sri Lanka in a Tier 1 international friendly match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow night.
The game was a preparation arranged by Cheng Hoe before Malaysia face Vietnam in their third Group G match of the World Cup 2022/Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers at My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi on Oct 10.
“It would be disappointing not to be able to join my teammates in the field and as a player, we accept the matter positively and will work hard to win a place in the first eleven.
“After watching my teammates playing against Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last month made me even more excited to join Harimau Malaya,” said Aidil Zafuan at a pre-match media conference at the venue here today.
Aidil Zafuan last turned out for the national squad when Malaysia lost 2-3 in aggregate to Vietnam in the final of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 at My Dinh Stadium on December 15 last year.
He also chalked up 82 international caps with the national squad since 2007.
In this regard, Cheng Hoe stressed that the warm-up against Sri Lanka would be the best arena for him to select the top eleven against Vietnam.
The 51-year-old coach announced he would not be calling new players to the squad of 27 even though some were injured in Malaysia Cup matches.
“We hope to achieve positive results in the Sri Lanka match to get the momentum rolling against Vietnam.
In the match against Indonesia at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Malaysia won 3-2 before losing 1-2 to UAE in the second match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil. — Bernama
