TAIPEH: Taiwan will be fielding Belgium-based midfielder Xavier Chen in today's Asian World Cup qualifying first round second leg but his inclusion has not sent the Malaysian camp running for cover. National coach K. Rajagobal has enough on his plate to worry about with injuries to strikers Safee Sali and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha a bigger concern.
With Ahmad Fakri Saarani and Abdul Hadi Yahya having just returned from injury themselves, Rajagobal said he has yet to make up his mind on which pair will be lining up today.
Norshahrul, however, gave the team a boost when he resumed training on Friday but Pelita Jaya's Safee is definitely out after being reduced to watching his teammates train from the sidelines.
"Safee is out but I have not made a decision on who to play. I'll have to see the situation with the players and the tactics we will use before deciding on who should start.
"My main concern is the strikeforce but we have played without Safee before and still won. So it is not just about one player," said Rajagobal before yesterday evening's official practice session at the Taipeh Municipal Stadium.
Taiwan coach Lo Chih-Tsung confirmed KV Mechelen's Chen will start today as Taiwan look for the 1-0 win that will deliver the knockout blow to Malaysia, who won the first leg 2-1, and advance on the away goals rule.
Rajagobal, however, does not think it will come to that.
"In the first leg, we did not have penetration on the right flank and the right-back Helmi (Remeli) was nervous playing his first competitive international match.
"I had to replace him but the team had also not got into their rhythm yet after not playing competitively since the AFF Cup.
"It will take one or two matches to get the tempo back. Had we converted our chances in the first leg, we would have already been through," said Rajagobal.
Young Tigers A's Mahalli Jasuli looks likely to take the right-back spot while the right midfield position is a toss up between S. Chanturu, Ashaari Samsudin and Amirulhadi Zainal.
Baddrol Bakhtiar and Abdul Hadi Yahya could start upfront while the rest of the side virtually picks itself from defenders Aidil Abdul Radzak, Fadhli Shas and Asraruddin Putra Omar, midfielders Amar Rohidan, Safiq Rahim and S. Kunanlan and goalkeeper Sharbinee Allawee Ramli.
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