PETALING JAYA: Despite the pain in his right knee, Nor Azam Azih (pix) is unfazed and still geared up to play for the Harimau Malaya squad in the Thailand King’s Cup competition next week.
The Sri Pahang FC midfielder said that although his playing style was not the same as before due to the pain, he still tried various ways to work around it.
“I take pain killers to overcome the discomfort or pain at the start of the game to give me confidence on the football field,“ he said when met before the national squad training session at Wisma FAM, here, today.
Nor Azam also said that he gained additional confidence following the call-up, with the presence of two experienced midfielders, namely, Brendan Gan from Selangor FC and Nazmi Faiz Mansor from Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT).
“I have always played with them. InshaAllah (God willing) with this partnership, we will play well together,“ he added.
He also believes in Brendan’s ability to help the defence but promised that all the midfielders would perform well in Chiang Mai.
Meanwhile, defender Dominic Tan is optimistic of the talent of the national squad, despite Mohd Shahrul Saad being sidelined due to fitness issues.
“To me, we do have talented players here, but if I have the opportunity to play, I will do my best,“ he said.
The Sabah FC player is also unperturbed if he is not selected as a starter to face the hosts in the Thailand King’s Cup tournament.
“We play as a team; those who do not make the first 11 will give our full support to our talented team,” he added.
Ranked 148th in the world, Malaysia will face Thailand (111th) on Sept 22 (Thursday), while Trinidad & Tobago (101) will face Tajikistan (109).
The winners of the two matches will meet in the finals on Sept 25 while the losers will battle it out for the third place.-Bernama
