Four players have withdrawn from the Malaysian squad for Wednesday's World Cup Asian qualifier against Kuwait in order to train with their club teams for next week's Malaysia Cup semi-finals.

The quartet had been slated to travel with the Malaysian squad to the Middle East on Monday for the tie, which is decisive in the final outcome of the group with Kuwait battling China for top spot and the only ticket into the final round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers.

Malaysia coach Bertalan Bicskei had intended to take his strongest squad to Kuwait for the match but made a surprising 11th hour turnaround on Sunday when he offered players whose teams were still involved with the Malaysia Cup the option of traveling to Kuwait or remaining with their clubs.

Forward Indra Putra Mahayuddin and defender Rosdi Talib of Pahang, Sabah midfielder Madzlan Emoi and Kedah goalkeeper Megat Amir Faisal Ibrahim opted to stay in Malaysia, leaving Kedah midfielder Shariman Che Omar as the only player to join the national team.

"Of course, I am disappointed that the best players are not available for national duty," said Bicskei to local newspaper The Star.

"But there are good players in the team, I think we will be able to put up a good performance against Kuwait."

"I included Shariman after speaking to the Kedah team. The Kedah coach (Mohd Azraai Khor) told me he wanted the player to getmore international exposure."

Malaysia have yet to manage a point in their World Cup qualification campaign, scoring one and conceding 12 goals in their five matches.

Kuwait and China are tied on points and share similar records in their head-to-head encounters, meaning that goal difference is likely to decide top spot in Group Four. China is to meet Hong Kong in Guangzhou in a match which kicks off at the same time as Kuwait's game against Malaysia in Kuwait City.

Malaysia Squad

Goalkeepers: Mohd Syamsuri Mustafa (Terengganu), Mohd Suffian Abdul Rahman (Negri Sembilan), Azizon Abdul Kadir (Malacca)

Defenders: Ahmad Tarmini Saiban (Malacca), Chow Chee Weng (Penang), Wong Sai Kong (Sarawak), Lim Chan Yew, Wan Rohaimi Ismail (Public Bank), Leong Hong Seng (Selangor), Chan Wing Hoong, Asmawi Bakiri (Perak), Norfazly Idrus, Zairo Anuar Zalani (Terengganu)

Midfielders: Mohd Khairul Anuar Jamil (Malacca Telekom), Mohd Amri Yahyah, Mohd Shukor Adan, D. Surendran (Selangor), Shariman Che Omar (Kedah), Mohd Azizan Baba (Malacca)

Strikers: K. Nanthakumar, Liew Kit Kong, V. Saravanan (Perak), Mohd Ivan Yussof (Kuala Lumpur), P. Gunalan (Selangor).

Source: Xinhua