Fitri to skipper Sultan of Johor Cup..

NATIONAL senior player Fitri Saari has been named as skipper for the six-nation Sultan of Johor Cup, which will be played at the Taman Daya Stadium on Sept 22-29.
   Yesterday, national Juniors coach K. Dharmaraj selected 18 players, and two more reserves, for the tournament which will also serve as a Junior World Cup warm-up.
   The other teams in the Sultan of Johor Cup are Argentina, England, Pakistan, India and South Korea.
    "And with England and Pakistan in our World Cup group, it would be a valuable match to prepare for our quest to play in the semi-finals in new Delhi," said Dharmaraj.
   The other team in Malaysia's group is South Africa, but they pulled out of the Sultan of Johor Cup due to lack of money.
    The 20-year-old Fitri, from Terengganu, has 58 caps, and also played in the just concluded Asia Cup in Ipoh.
    Dharmaraj's side will also be powered by four other national players – defenders Faiz Jali and Izad Hakimi, midfielder Meor Azuan and forward Firhan Ashaari.
    All except for Meor featured in the Asia Cup team and Firhan scored four goals in the tournament.
    The national juniors, minus the four who played with the seniors in Ipoh, just returned from a playing Tour in Australia where they got whipped.
   "We lost  all four matches, but took the Aussies to the wire in our last match where we took the lead, then went down 1-3 before scoring another to lose narrowly 2-3.
   "However, in the earlier matches, we lost 6-2, 1-0 and 7-1 to the 2009 Junior World Cup bronze medallists," said Dharmaraj.
   The juniors named for the Sultan of Johor tournament in Johor will not feature in the Razak Cup, which begins on Thursday in Kuantan. 
Sultan of Johor Cup
Goalkeepers: Hazrul Faiz, Hafizuddin Othman
Defenders: Faiz Helmi , Izad Hakimi, Kavin Kartik, Zulhairi Hashim, Nor Aqmal Ghaffar
Midfielders: Fitri Saari (captain), Azri Hassan, Meor Azuan Hassan, Shazril Irwan, Haziq Samsul
Forwards: Firhan Ashaari, Syamim Yusof, Rashid Baharom,  Shahril Saabah, Azwar Abdul Rahman, Hafiz Zainol
  The two reserves: Joel Samuel van Huizen, Shazrul Imran Nazli.