Akmal returns to action after long absence
BY LOGANATH VELLOOPENANG: After three months on the sidelines, Kedah striker Akmal Rizal Rakhli will rejoin his team in training at the Darulaman Stadium in Alor Star today.
The 24-year-old player underwent a knee operation in October and it left the Canaries battling in the Malaysia Cup semi-finals and final without their influential skipper. His absence was sorely felt and Kedah went down 0-1 to Perlis in the Malaysia Cup final.
National coach Bertalan Bicskei also had to make do without Akmal in the month-long Asean Football Federation (AFF) Tiger Cup competition, which ended on Sunday.
Kedah coach Mohd Azraai Abdullah said yesterday: “Akmal told me that he is ready for action after having undergone therapy at the Wisma FAM in Petaling Jaya and doing fitness training on his own.
“Our team management will meet Akmal tomorrow morning and I will get a first-hand look at his condition in training in the evening.”
Azraai added that Kedah fans would not have to wait much longer to see Akmal in action again.
Kedah, who were relegated to the Premier League at the end of last season, will play against Super League side Penang at the Darulaman Stadium tomorrow night in the return leg of a charity match to raise money for the tsunami victims.
Penang won the first-leg match 1-0 at the City Stadium last week.
“I will most likely field Akmal in the second half as I need to see how he copes in a match,” said Azraai.
Akmal will not be the only favourite son returning to Kedah today. National midfielder Liew Kit Kong, who played in the 2-1 Tiger Cup third place playoff win over Myanmar on Saturday, will rejoin the team after a one-year absence. Kit Kong played for FA Cup champions Perak last season.
Kedah now have only one foreigner in the team – the retained St Vincent defender, Cornelius Bernard Hugging. The Kedah FA did not extend the contracts of Brazilians Marcos Magno and Christiano Selbach.
“We are expecting two highly-rated players from Nigeria, one a midfielder and the other a striker, to arrive here this weekend,” said Azraai.
“They are not to be mistaken for the two African players who walked in for trials with us last week. I gave them, one from Ghana and the other a Nigerian, a run-out in our friendly against Penang NTFA on Sunday night. They were terrible and could not even match the standard of the local Kedah players.”
Kedah fell to an embarrassing 0-1 defeat by the Premier League newcomers.
Both Kedah and Penang NTFA are drawn in Group A of the Premier League with Selangor, Kelantan TNB, MK Land, Kuala Lumpur, Brunei and Malacca.
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