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alaysia’s rising club versus country row took a new twist this week when three Johor Darul Ta’zim FC (JDT) players were ordered home from national camp ahead of next week’s Causeway Derby against Singapore.

Strikers Darren Lok and Zaquan Adha plus midfielder Irfan Fazail, all of second tier side JDT II, departed Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) headquarters on Tuesday night, with strict instructions not to return until four days before the Oct. 7 match at the Singapore Sports Hub, as per FIFA rules.

Already, the plans of national coach Ong Kim Swee for November’s AFF Suzuki Cup have been turned upside down after a quartet of JDT players, including national captain Safiq Rahim, abruptly announced their international retirements in July.

English-born Lok, who only received his Malaysia passport last week, was fast-tracked into a depleted squad after just 45 minutes of domestic soccer. But after two days with his new teammates, the 26-year-old forward headed back down the North-South Highway toward Johor.

“We have an important build up for the AFF Cup, and my aim is to get the players ready for that,” an exasperated yet diplomatic Ong told reporters. “I had called up the players earlier to improve on our chemistry as a team, but this is the club’s call and we have to respect that.”

The Malaysian national camp coincided with a high-profile AFC Cup semifinal between JDT and Bengaluru FC, of India, at a packed Larkin Stadium on Wednesday night.

Defending champions JDT were held to a 1-1 draw but fancy their chances of advancing to a second consecutive final ahead of the return leg in India on Oct. 19.

As impressive as JDT’s rise in continental football has been since the 2014 Suzuki Cup, it has coincided with the depressing decline of the national team. Their results have included a 10-0 thrashing at the hands of UAE, two 6-0 hammerings by Palestine, and, more recently, an embarrassing 3-0 loss against an Indonesian side playing its first official match after a 12-month FIFA ban.

And matters have not been helped by the souring of relations between the national team and nation’s best club side.

Even with the retiring foursome no longer involved, roughly one quarter of the squad — six players — comes from Johor’s two teams, which is more than any other state.

On the one hand, it is easy to understand JDT’s perspective of wanting to put their own needs ahead of the country. They have spent a lot of money to bring a new professionalism to the domestic game.

They would argue that they are merely following the protocol of other countries in terms of when to release players, and that the July retirements of Safiq, Aidil Zafuan, S. Kunanlan and Amirulhadi Zainal were individual decisions.

But Malaysia’s lowly position in Asian football hurts JDT. Harimau Malaysia fell to their worst ever FIFA ranking of 174th in April before recovering slightly to 158th on the most recent list, yet still below the likes of Myanmar, Afghanistan and India.

If it was in the top six of the East Zone, instead of its current position of eighth, it would earn direct entry into the 2017 AFC Champions League, rather than having to advance through two tough qualifiers to make the group stage.

In the last two years, it has lost to Thai opponents before even reaching the last playoff game against even more difficult Chinese Super League teams.

“For us to have an easier route, the national team needs to improve in the rankings, so it is important for club and country to work together to achieve these goals together,” JDT and Malaysia utility player Junior Eldstal told ESPN FC.

“JDT are putting Malaysia on the map. I think people forget that JDT are creating history every year, and keep doing so. Malaysia and JDT should work together to achieve greatness.”

Eldstal, who was born to a Malaysian mother from Sabah, grew up in England where the performances of their national team have paled in comparison to the Premier League’s top sides.

JDT, who are chasing their fourth trophy of the season, cannot be blamed for being frustrated by the inability of others to keep up with them. Indeed, the Malaysian side has the feeling that an underperforming national team are trying to ride their coattails.

Still, it is certainly in their best interests to see the Malaysians perform well at the Suzuki Cup, and in next year’s AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.

So, with the domestic season all but over, it made little sense for them to withdraw their trio of players this week.

Rather than following the letter of the law, it may have been better to have shown more good will, given the recent struggles of coach Ong Kim Swee and company.
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Jason Dasey is senior editor of ESPN FC, Indonesia’s most popular English language football website with a SE Asia edition and a daily Bahasa Indonesia TV show on NET. Twitter: @ESPNFC_ID