Safee Sali and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha will finally reunite on the playing field against Australia in Canberra today after injuries kept the two forwards apart since early June.
National coach K. Rajagobal has not been able to field Safee and Norshahrul together in the national team's last seven matches since a 1-1 draw with Hong Kong on June 3.
Norshahrul's absence was particularly missed as Safee at times was left alone to shoulder the burden of scoring goals for Malaysia during a run which included four World Cup qualifiers against Taiwan and Singapore and friendlies against Myanmar, Arsenal and Liverpool.
Norshahrul's absence was particularly missed as Safee at times was left alone to shoulder the burden of scoring goals for Malaysia during a run which included four World Cup qualifiers against Taiwan and Singapore and friendlies against Myanmar, Arsenal and Liverpool.
But now that Norshahrul is back in fine form after scoring twice in Kelantan's 2-0 win over Felda United in his last outing, Rajagobal is keen for his favoured attacking pair to hit the ground running, having utilised Hadi Yahya previously with mixed success.
"As you know, Norshahrul has missed a number of games due to injury and I have been forced to include other players in the team.
"But now that he is back, I want to see if he can resume his understanding with Safee. I have also Shahrizal Saad and Izzaq Faris Ramlan at my disposal which was one reason why I did not include Hadi.
"But now that he is back, I want to see if he can resume his understanding with Safee. I have also Shahrizal Saad and Izzaq Faris Ramlan at my disposal which was one reason why I did not include Hadi.
"This is a chance for the players to show me what they can do against a strong team like Australia," said Rajagobal.
Malaysia's reputation as AFF Cup champions will count for nothing despite having beaten Australia 1-0 when the two teams last met at the 1992 Jakarta Anniversary tournament as the gulf has widened considerably in the 19 years since with the Aussies ranked 19th to Malaysia's 147th.
Today, a majority of the Australian players ply their trade in Europe and East Asia while Safee is the only Malaysian player based abroad with Indonesia's Pelita Jaya.
Rajagobal, who was assistant to Ken Worden in 1992, cautioned against expecting Malaysia to produce a similar result against Australia, who are without Mark Schwarzer, Tim Cahill, Harry Kewell and Brett Emerton.
"You must understand that Australia are a better team but we will try to play our football and use the occasion to test a few new players," he said.
Goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat will be counted upon to repeat the heroics displayed in the Olympic qualifier against Japan to keep the Australians at bay.
But Australia coach Holger Osieck is certainly not underestimating the challenge posed by Malaysia as they warm up for a World Cup qualifier against Oman four days later in Sydney.
"I think Malaysia are a good opponent for us because they have a similar style as Thailand and we can see like in our first qualifier, these games are not easy," Osieck said, according to Australia Associated Press.
"It's a different type of football, and I think down the road we have to prepare for any style of football.
"In their home game against Singapore, they played in front of a crowd of 90,000, so they cannot be a Mickey Mouse team, I assure you," he said.
MALAYSIA XI (probable): Khairul Fahmi Che Mat; Mahalli Jasuli, Norhafiz Zamani Misbah, Muslim Ahmad, Asraruddin Putra Omar; S. Kunanlan, Amar Rohidan, Joseph Kalang Tie, Khyril Muhymeen Zambri; Safee Sali, Norshahrul Idlan Talaha.
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