SATHIANATHAN’S FATE IN TWO DAYS

The Malaysian national team failed to make the cut for the semi-finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2008 for only the second time since the tournament’s inception in 1996.

The first time Malaysia did not make the last four of the biennial championship was back in 1998 when the team was handled by Tunisian Hatem Souissi.

But in spite of all the uncertainties, Sathianathan remained upbeat where he feels that the current set of players should not be disbanded.

“There are some people who feel that the team should be comprised of players from under the age of 23-years-old, I don’t buy into the view,” said Sathianathan.

“If that were the case, then Vietnam and Thailand would have used all players from that age category for the current meet. It takes a lot to play at the full senior level and no team in the current competition took that risk.

“The players that we have are the best at the moment. It is a good mixture of the experienced and younger players. And it is for that reason, we should not disband them.”

Malaysia started the AFF Suzuki Cup 2008 in Phuket with a 3-0 win over Laos before falling 3-2 to Vietnam.

They failed to make the cut for the semi-finals when they conceded a 3-0 loss to hosts Thailand in a match which they needed to win.

“This team has an average age of 24.7 which is still quite young,” added Sathianathan.

“Furthermore, there are about seven players who can still play at the SEA Games in Laos next year.”