Harimau Malaysia head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee has begged Johor Darul Ta’azim (JDT) players Safiq Rahim, Aidil Zafuan, S. Kunanlan and Amirulhadi Zainal to return from international retirement after witnessing his team suffer a 3-0 loss to Indonesia on Tuesday.
Ong Kim Swee admitted that his squad felt lost without the services of the former players because they have been an integral part of the national team over the last couple of years.
The ex-Harimau Muda boss also explained that his current set of players have not found the chemistry and he was forced to make 14 changes to the squad for the match in Surakarta.
“The team revolved around them and their retirements forced me into making a number of changes to the team for the Indonesia match,” Ong Kim Swee said as quoted by Utusan.
“I hope they saw the match on Tuesday and sympathized for what the players went through. The best thing for them to do is to rejoin the national team and continue fighting as a team.
The loss painted a picture that showed Ong Kim Swee having a tough time in selecting the best players to take part in the upcoming Suzuki Cup in Myanmar and Philippines. However, he will get the chance to test his players in friendlies against Singapore and Afghanistan.
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