BY BONG PEDRALVEZ
UNLESS he plays it straight, Filipino-Dutch midfielder Jason de Jong may miss future assignments for the national team, according to coach Hans Michael Weiss.
"I don’t know if I will consider him (De Jong) because of lack of discipline," Weiss said shortly before leaving for Germany to personally recruit players for the Azkals’ Asian World Cup qualifying series against Sri Lanka in June.
"A player on the national team can’t behave like him," added Weiss of De Jong, 21, although he declined to elaborate what the problem was with the mid-fielder.
Playing as the "enforcer" in midfield, De Jong was a vital cog in the Azkals’ successful campaign in last year’s AFF Suzuki Cup where the country reached the semifinals of Southeast Asia’s men’s football championship for the first time in its 14-year history.
De Jong was also apparently giving problems to his Indonesian ballclub Persiba Balikpapan, which signed him up for $80,000 for the rest of the Indonesian Super League.
Indonesian news reports said De Jong was sanctioned by his club recently after he reportedly threw a fit and left the stadium when he was benched by coach Haryadi in a match against Arema.
After seeing action in the opening leg of the Asian Cup Challenge match in Mongolia last Feb. 9 in Bacolod City, De Jong did not play in the second match in Ulan Bator and the ACC group stage tournament last week in Myanmar.
Weiss said he had several options to fill in the vacuum left by De Jong, including Filipino-Germans Manuel Ott and Stefan Schrock, who play for separate squads in the German second division.
"Ott will be ready by June 3 and is presently close to breaking into the first team. He will be match fit," said Weiss, referring to the 19-year-old midfielder who suits up for Inglostadt.
Malaya.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In case De Jong has problems with his discipline then Coach Weiss makes the right decision to delete him from the Azkals squad. What we don't need at this moment are some players who think they are divas. This causes only stress in our preperation for the upcoming difficult task for our World Cup qualifying campaign.
ReplyDeleteIf this is true, i am going to be disappointed. De Jong is still one of the best players on the team in my book. Very key in the Suzuki Cup. Its a shame this had to be publicized but if the story was written I do hope they come up with a follow up to find out more on what happened and hopefully get a word from De Jong or his representative. He is still young and may have reacted rather impulsively, that happens. Players always want to be on the pitch. But at the end of the day, you get in into this with the coach, there will only be one winner.
ReplyDeleteThis actually doesn't come as a surprise, to me at least. I mean, De Jong is known as a hot headed player and that could also translate into him being a hot headed person in general. So him "being in hot water" due to disciplinary issues isn't new and therefore isn't much of a surprise.
ReplyDeletehe's not really a loss guys.
ReplyDeletehe plays in the Indonesian Super League, which isnt really that super.
But at least he plays with a team, unlike the more loved younghusbands.
I hope the Azkals team(family) will help one of its member. Dan Palami is a good leader, he could give some good advice the this young talented kid.
ReplyDeletedid you just put that you got your MBE at 33 as your profile name? hahaha wowwww
ReplyDeletede jong will come around.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, thats actually for my benefit from Kev as I actually was questioning the circumstances in a different blog. Sounds impressive huh? Well if you give him the chance he will regale us about how he got it because of his contributions to society, etc., etc. I am sure if it was indeed given to him it wasnt because of his knowledge of football. To say De Jong is no big loss shows how much he has seen of the Azkals and how many players locally can actually play that position effectively. We needed Ali to fill in that spot during this Myanmar stint. And we saw how hard the first two games were.
ReplyDeleteWe got Lucena now. A far more experienced player than De Jong when it comes to the defensive role on the midfield.
ReplyDeleteJay, i know you would love me to be exclusive to you but i am here for all good pinoys here.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone think Phil Younghusband has a mullet?
"Anonymous said...
did you just put that you got your MBE at 33 as your profile name? hahaha wowwww"
Damn right! you know it!
Plastic..
ReplyDeleteSo Kev, you trying to rile up everyone again with the anti-youbnghusband sentiment? Try another approach as we dont really discriminate too much on people with mullets (although he does look like he has one, hehe). Theres not a lot of animosity with rednecks in these neck of the woods.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you think I am a good pinoy...