Young players are good enough says Ricki

Male’, MALDIVES – Maldives national team coach Ricki Herbert, who has guided New Zealand in 2010 FIFA World Cup has said that the young players he picked are good enough to be part of this.

“I have picked the young players because they are good enough to be part of this and the only thing is that they don’t have good international experience and I am going to give them that chance. These boys are desperate they are hungry and they are training hard to be among this group.” Ricki said to FAM official website.

“I am trying to build the team for the future and there are very good senior players that I have retained in the group that I think can help to support the transitional period. I am excited about the younger ones that I have brought into the team. Probably its different from the past now. It’s going take time to build this team and there are lots of potential players.” Ricki added

Ricki showed his happiness towards the goalkeeper Imran for his hard work to be back on the field.

“He played 210 minutes in total during the training camp in Malaysia. He is back to the team and he is really supportive of what we are doing and he is a good guy and has worked incredibly hard I want pay tribute to Hussain Zinan who has worked hard with him."

“The only thing he needed now is to play games and he is getting better and better. Still I will get few days and he is going to be a strong part of us.” Ricki added.

“I was really pleased with training camp held in Malaysia and ultimately PDRM was the best opponent and we played really well against them. And its probably and arguably the best performance from the senior team including the game against Hong Kong.”

Ricki Herbert also said that the players who didn’t get the chance to be with the team this time will get the chances in the future as there are many good tournaments ahead.

“Maybe we haven’t seen or we missed some players but I am sure if they work hard they will get the chance and I am pleased with the contribution of everyone involved. SAFF Games is coming forward and still we will get more opportunities for them.”