S-League coaches applaud Raddy's 'bold' decision

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May 26, 2011 SINGAPORE - With the national team missing seasoned stalwarts like Mustafic Fahrudin and Noh Alam Shah, Khairul Amri recognises that he now has a new role to play: To help his new and younger team-mates settle down quickly before their Asian Zone 2014 World Cup qualifiers in July.

Singapore are up for a possible clash with Malaysia, who are favoured to overcome Taiwan in their opening round tie next month.

The 26-year-old, along with midfielders Mustafic Fahrudin and Shahril Ishak, are three of eight Singaporeans plying their trade in Indonesia who are in Radojko Avramovic's 33-man provisional roster, which includes 13 newcomers.

"For me, it means that I will have to work harder and run faster on the pitch to set an example for the younger players," said the Persiba Balikpapan hitman.

Avramovic's decision to blend experience and youth in the squad was given the thumbs-up by S-League coaches MediaCorp spoke to yesterday. SAFFC's Richard Bok said: "I am sure there are more young talent that can still fight for places, like Balestier's Armanizam Dolah and our own striker Erwan Gunawan."

After losing 2-1 to the Courts Young Lions on Monday night, Gombak coach Darren Stewart held up Fazly Ayob and Safuwan Baharudin as players to watch. "These are two very special players in the Young Lions side, the other one is SAFFC's Fazrul Nawaz, and I applaud Raddy for his boldness," he said.

With four players doing National Service (NS) - striker Khairul Nizam, defender Safuwan and midfielders Raihan Rahman and Fazly - in the squad, Avramovic refuted suggestions they may not be released for duty with the Lions. He also defended roping in Nizam who has just finished serving an eight-month ban for his involvement in a brawl during an S-League match between the Young Lions and Beijing Guoan last September.

Said the Serb: "Nizam may not have played matches during his ban, but he has the skills we cannot ignore. He can get back to match fitness training alongside the experienced players and we must help him.

"As for the boys who are serving NS, they are available and it is only a question of working with the authorities to get them released for the World Cup qualifiers."