Helmi facing double whammy after another horror showing

GOALKEEPER Mohd Helmi Eliza will not be called up for national team dutyif he loses his place in the Kedah team for the Malaysian Super League(MSL). Helmi had a bad match against Selangor on Saturday letting in threesoft goals before he was replaced in the first half. Helmi's poorperformances started at the Asean Championship where he let in threegoals against Vietnam which ended Malaysia's run in the tournament. National coach B. Sathianathan hopes that the twice MSL Goalkeeper ofthe Year will find his way back to the top. "It's easy for everyone to criticise him because he has not beenplaying well, but I think he needs a lot of support to boost hisconfidence level. "Helmi is still the best goalkeeper in the country. I am sure Kedah aredoing all they can to help him," said Sathianathan at Wisma FAM yesterday. But the coach also made it clear that Helmi will only play for thenational team if he regains his form and remains consistent with hisperformances. "The players who are selected to the national team are those whoperform well at the MSL level, and if Helmi can fight his way back thedoor is always open to him. I will be speaking to him to see how best Ican help him," said Sathianathan. In the absence of Helmi UPB MyTeam goalkeeper Syed Adney Syed Husseinand Selangor's Hamsani Ahmad may get their chance to prove themselves. "We have very few goalkeepers who can play at international level. Ihave to see from these two which one will be a better option for theAsian Qualifiers. "Whatever happens we are up against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) andthe goalkeeper must have enough confidence to play." added Sathianathan. The national team report for training on Jan 14 and will take on UAE atthe Petaling Jaya Stadium five days later.