Kali terakhir Norshahrul menjaringkan gol di peringkat antarabangsa adalah ketika saingan Piala AFF Suzuki 2010. Walaupun dikatakan menghadapi masalah tahap kecergasan, Norshahrul tetap akan memberi yang terbaik apabila digandingkan dengan Safee ketika perlawanan tersebut.
SAFEE Sali and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha will finally reunite on the playing field when Malaysia face the Philippines tomorrow after injuries kept the strikers apart since October.
National coach K. Rajagobal has not been able to field Safee and Norshahrul together in the national team's last four 'A' internationals since the 5-0 thrashing by Australia in Canberra on Oct 7.
The injury-prone Norshahrul had also missed seven straight internationals prior to that match.
The 26-year-old has been having a bad patch since the start of the year as a hamstring injury prevented him from playing against the Philippines (1-1) and Sri Lanka (6-0).
Rajagobal is hoping that both strikers, who played instrumental roles in Malaysia's victory in the 2010 AFF Cup, will be available for this year's edition in November.
Norshahrul, however, is still struggling to regain full fitness.
"It's a massive few days for us. We play the Philippines first and then Singapore twice. Both matches are important," said Norshahrul, who has not scored an international goal since the 2010 AFF Cup, yesterday.
"I am doing my best to prove my fitness ahead of Friday's match and hopefully, I can get involved at some point.
"I am not fit enough to play a 90-minute international match as I only started five times for Kelantan in the Super League since recovering from my injury."
Norshahrul, who reported for training only last weekend due to his commitments with Kelantan, played for only 25 minutes in a friendly against Felda United on Tuesday.
"It felt good to reunite with Safee and the rest after such a long time. I will try my best to regain my fitness," Norshahrul added.
Safee, meanwhile, is aiming to score his first international goal of the season tomorrow. "I am eager to score but victory over the Philippines is more important. We have done our homework on them and hopefully it will be enough to defend our good track record at home," said Safee.
Malaysia will start the match as slight favourites as they have recorded seven wins and one draw since their 3-1 defeat to Uzbekistan in an AFC Cup Qualifying group match in Cheras on Nov 18, 2009.
As expected, the Philippines named eight foreign-based players in their 21-member squad but left out captain Aly Borromeo, goalkeeper Neil Etheridge and the Younghusband brothers -- Phil and James -- for various reasons.
The Philippines Squad
Goalkeepers:
Eduard Sacapano
Roland Müller
Defenders:
Rob Gier
Jason Sabio
Juan Luis Guirado
Roxy Dorlas
Carlie De Murga
Stephan Schrock.
Midfielders:
Manny Ott
Misagh Bahadoran
Patrick Reichelt
Marwin Angeles
Lexton Moy
Jason De Jong
Paul Mulders
Jeffrey Christiaens
Forwards:
Chieffy Caligdong
Angel Guirado
Denis Wolf
OJ Clarino
By Ajitpal Singh, NST
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