Tough tackling Selangor centreback Mohd Nasriq Baharom was stretchered out five minutes from the final whistle with a knee injury in a friendly against the Maldives national team at the MBPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya yesterday.
Malaysia won 4-0. It was the final warm-up for the team ahead of the Asian Games opening match against Kyrgyzstan on Nov 8.
Injury to Nasriq was a big blow for coach K. Rajagopal, who has already lost the services of nine key players because of injuries.
“I don’t know what to say. The boys played well and I did not expect this to happen,” he said.
The consolation for Rajagopal is that the team defeated Maldives convincingly with goals by Mohd Safee Sali, S. Chanturu, Ahmad Fakri Saarani and Amirulhadi Zainal.
Rajagopal has lost most of the core players from the 2009 Laos SEA Games gold medal winning squad in almost all the key positions.
Among those out of the team are goalkeepers Farizal Marlias and Mohd Sharbinee Allawee, defenders Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak and Mat Sabree Abu, midfielders Baddrol Bakhtiar and Gary Steven Robbat and striker Mohd Zaquan Adha Abdul Razak.
The national Under-23 team will leave for the Guangzhou Games on Friday.
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