Defender Zamani called up for Chelsea match

Spain striker Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast will not get a free rein when Chelsea play a Malaysian Selection in a friendly at the National Stadium on Thursday after coach Ong Kim Swee called up former national skipper Norhafiz Zamani Misbah to strengthen the home team's backline.

Zamani missed almost a year of action after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament at the Guangzhou Asian Games but made a successful return to action in Negri Sembilan's 2-0 Super League win over Perlis on July 6.
With Kim Swee satisfied of Zamani's fitness, the centre-back will be thrown straight into action having last pulled on the national jersey against Kyrgyzstan last November.

"We need experienced players to guide the youngsters in the team and Zamani is one the most experienced in the country.

"He has trained well and his performances have been good but what I'm really looking at is his experience. We need someone like him in defence to keep things calm," said Kim Swee at a press conference in Bandar Utama yesterday following Chelsea's arrival.
Zamani may be joined in defence by Kelantan's former national defender S. Subramaniam with Terengganu left-back Zubir Azmi and Kelantan's Daudsu Jamaluddin also in the frame.

Negri Sembilan striker Hairuddin Omar may yet get another chance to breach the Chelsea defence as he did in a 4-1 defeat in 2003 while Selangor's Amri Yahyah will also be given a chance to emulate his double against Manchester United in 2009.
Among the Olympic squad players Kim Swee plans to expose are strikers A. Thamil Arasu and Syahrul Azwari Ibrahim while nine other newly called up Under-23 players will also get a run out.
"I will probably name 20 or 21 players and all those selected will get a chance to play. The young players will know what it is like to play a top team while for some of the seniors, it will be a chance to get back into the national team," said Kim Swee.

Goalkeeper Farizal Marlias, for one, will be looking to make his way back into national coach K. Rajagobal's plans while seven players to be cut from the national team's squad preparing to face Singapore in the World Cup qualifiers may also get a chance to face Chelsea.