Kim Swee drops Safawi from SEA Games squad ‘for his own good’
Bernama
-November 21, 2019 12:13 PM
Safawi has logged many hours on duty for Malaysia and Johor Darul Ta’zim. (AP pic)PETALING JAYA: National Under-22 coach Ong Kim Swee has decided to exclude hotshot Safawi Rasid from the SEA Games team to give him some rest.
He said Safawi, this year’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), has played a lot of games for his club Johor Darul Ta’zim and the senior national side this year.
“It was a difficult decision to make and I’m doing this for the good of Safawi.
“He has played many matches for his club and the national team, including the Under-22 squad earlier this year.
“So, for the good of everyone, I have decided to rest Safawi as we have important assignments (for him) next year. I hope everyone understands,” he told reporters at the team’s training session at Arena MPSJ, Subang Jaya yesterday.
In the past 11 days, the 22-year-old has played three matches with the senior national side, including Tuesday’s Asian qualifier against Indonesia in which he scored both goals in a 2-0 win.
Meanwhile, seven players – Adam Nor Azlin, Syahmi Safari, Dominic Tan, Syamer Kutty Abba, Akhyar Rashid, Muhammad Daniel Amier Norhisham and Haziq Nadzli – reported for training after completing their duty with the senior national squad.
Kim Swee will have to drop 12 players from the training squad before taking a 20-man squad to Manila this Saturday for the SEA Games.
Meanwhile, young striker Luqman Hakim Shamsuddin said the absence of Safawi would be sorely felt by the team.
Luqman Hakim, 17, said he was looking forward to learn from Safawi and another national player, Akhyar Abdul Rashid.
“It has been my dream to play in the SEA Games. In the 2017 edition in Kuala Lumpur, I was merely a spectator and since then I have been harbouring hopes to join the 2019 squad.
“If given a chance I would like to play alongside the two (Safawi and Akhyar),” he told reporters here yesterday.
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