Safiq : Singapore rely too much on naturalised players

Malaysian captain Safiq Rahim struck a boot on Singapore by insisting that they are nothing without their five naturalised players.

"I think they are very reliant on their naturalised players. Singapore are not much of a team without them," said Safiq before boarding the flight to Kuala Lumpur at the Changi Airport yesterday.

Singapore's naturalised players - Aleksandar Duric (formerly from Bosnia), Daniel Bennett (England), Mustafic Fahrudin (Serbia), Shi Jiayi and Qiu Li (from China) played an instrumental role in their 5-3 victory over Malaysia in the World Cup second round, first leg qualifier at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday.

The 41-year-old Duric proved age was no barrier when he easily outwitted young centre-backs Mohd Fadhli Shas and Muslim Ahmad to score a brace while Fahrudin, Shi Jiayi and Qiu Li added the other goals.

"These players are only good at their small stadium. They will not be able to play their game in front of our fans at the National Stadium. We will beat them," warned Safiq.

But the 24-year-old captain is suspended from the return leg after he was sent off five minutes into the second half for planting his studs into the ribs of Singapore's Hariss Harun.

"I am disappointed but I can't turn back the clock to make amends. I deserve the card as I miss-timed my tackle. I am confident my team will overcome the deficit to advance to the next stage," said Safiq yesterday.

"This is only my second red card of my career. Life is unfair... my team need me but I can't even be on bench on Thursday but it is not the end of the world...I will use my energy to motivate my teammates.

"I don't know whether my absence will affect the team's performance but I am sure that whoever replaces me will do a great job."

Among the players in contention to fill up the void in Safiq's absence are Ismail Faruqi Ashari, Shakir Shaari and K. Gurusamy.