PETALING JAYA, July 14 — Junior Eldstal welcomed the exclusion of the Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) players for the friendly against Liverpool and welcomed the opportunity to allow the team to prioritise their league campaign.

 

“It’s the best thing that can happen. The league is more important than a mid-season friendly. It’s a great opportunity to play against a side like Liverpool, but it comes at the wrong time.

“With us not selected, we can focus on the league,” said the midfielder, who is currently sidelined with a right leg tendon injury.

The 20-member list released by the FA of Malaysia did not include any JDT players, who currently lie second in the Super League.

However, Safiq Rahim and Amri Yahyah are on standby should any of the selected players suffer injuries.

National coach Dollah Salleh, who spoke of not having quality defenders and strikers in national colours, called five new faces from the team who played Timor Leste and Palestine in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers last month.

They included Pahang centreback Razman Roslan, Harimau Muda’s Nazirul Naim, Perak custodian Zamir Selamat, Kedah lynchpin Baddrol Bakhtiar and Terengganu’s Norshahrul Idlan Talaha.

Ashfaq Ali, Robert Cornthwaite and Thiago Junio, meanwhile, did enough to maintain their spots as the foreigners to take on the Reds. The trio also featured in the friendly against Tottenham Hotspur in May.

Pahang hitman Dickson Nwakaeme and Felda’s Zah Rahan Krangar are the other two imports, replacing Paulo Rangel and Guilherme De Paula who featured against Tottenham.

The Malaysian selection play Liverpool on July 24 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil and will begin training on Sunday.