Raja ropes in Azidan, Rizal

Azidan (left) hopes to impress in his first senior call-up.

MIDFIELDER Azidan Sarudin and defender Rizal Fahmi Abdul Rosid were the two new faces who reported for the national squad's second phase of training at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya yesterday.
Azidan, who plays for Selangor and Rizal Fahmi, a Kelantan recruit, are both determined to impress in their first ever senior call-up. Both are hoping to be shortlisted for the March 26 friendly against Singapore League's French club side Etoile FC.

Kedah striker Baddrol Bakhtiar also received his first national team call-up since suffering an injury before the Guangzhou Asian Games.

National coach K. Rajagobal, however, did not include former Selangor striker Safee Sali, Negri Sembilan's G. Mahathevan and Young Tiger Faizal Muhamad, who all featured in last month's friendly against Hong Kong, in his 24-man squad.
Rajagobal hopes to gauge his players, especially the new ones, in the friendly against Etoile, as part of their preparation for the 2014 World Cup Asian Zone first round qualifiers.

The Asian Football Federation will conduct the Qualifying draw on March 30.

The national team are full of confidence after their victory in the AFF Championships in December where they defeated Indonesia 4-2 on aggregate in the two-leg final. They hope to make it at least to the second round of the World Cup Qualifiers.

"Of course we need to start preparing early for the World Cup Qualifiers as it will be a tough event. Currently, I have a large pool of quality players with the majority from the AFF Cup winning squad," said Rajagobal.

The squad: Amar Rohidan, Baddrol Bakhtiar, Mohd Azmi Muslim, Mohd Sabre Mat Abu (Ked), Azidan Sarudin, Mohd Amirulhadi Zainal, Asraruddin Putra, Safiq Rahim (Sel), Ahmad Fakri Saarani, Aidil Zafuan Abd Razak, Farizal Marlias, S. Kunalan (NS), Ashaari Samsudin, Sharbinee Allawee (Ter), S. Chanturu Suppiah, Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, Rizal Fahmi Abdul Rosid, Norshahrul Idlan Talaha (Kel), K.Gurusamy, Izzaq Faris Ramlan, Mahalli Jasuli, Muslim Ahmad, Mohd Fadhli Mohd Shas (Young Tigers), Shahrizal Mohd Saad (Johor FC).