PETALING JAYA: Harimau Malaya have suffered another blow ahead of their friendly against China, with Safawi Rasid the latest player to be ruled out.
Safawi has returned home due to family matters, further depleting the national team’s already weakened squad.
Malaysia are scheduled to face China tomorrow at the Zhaoqing New District Sports Centre before taking on Yemen at the same venue on Tuesday.
The Kuching City player, who was with the national team in Guangdong, returned home to Malaysia yesterday.
Interim head coach Tan Cheng Hoe said the 29-year-old player had notified the management of his predicament.
“The national team understand Safawi’s situation, and we respect his decision to return to Malaysia due to family matters,” said Cheng Hoe.
Safawi’s absence comes as another blow for Cheng Hoe, who is already without six Selangor players due to injury, as well as the Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) players, who had chosen to skip due to the club’s tight schedule this month.
The absentees include Bergson Da Silva, Arif Aiman Hanapi, Manuel Hidalgo, and Stuart Wilkin, who played an important role during the team’s campaign at the FIFA Asean Cup in Indonesia.
Selangor players withdrew from the national camp due to injury following their FA Cup semi-final second-leg defeat to Kuching City the night before.
They were Nooa Laine, Ahmad Zikri Khalili, A. Selvan, Sikh Izhan Nazrel Sikh Azman, Syahir Bashah, and Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar.
Cheng Hoe has since brought in five other players, namely Dominic Tan, Syafiq Ahmad, Ariff Farhan Md Isa, Suhaimi Husin, and Safwan Mazlan.
