MANILA, Philippines – It looks like Malaysian football star Mohd Safee Sali can delay any retirement plans.
Sali, who publicly announced he was hanging up his boots last February, has been enlisted to join Far East United, the all-star football team from Southeast Asia that will be competing in the TST $1 Million Winner-Take-All-Tournament in Cary, North Carolina from June 1-4.
The football player, who scored 23 times for Malaysia in international competition, was part of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup championship side under K. Rajagopal. He also scored 110 goals during his 19-year club career in his native Malaysia and Indonesia.
Back in 2011, Sali was named to the Best Starting XI in Asian Football.
Despite being 39 years of age, Sali remains in superb shape and will bring firepower to Far East United in this competition that is planned to be in the near future, the UEFA Champions League version of seven-a-side football.
Far East United includes Filipinos Anton del Rosario, Stephan Schrock and Roland Muller, Nigerian-Indonesia Greg Nwokolo (who suited up for the Merah Putih from 2013-19), Japanese defender Masaki Watanabe, Thai midfielder Charyl Chappuis (who has a Southeast Asian Games gold medal and two AFF Championships to his name), and current Guam national team captain and striker Jason Cunliffe (who has 25 international goals to his name).
Far East United is one of the 32 squads that will be participating in this international tournament that includes contingents from Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, Welsh side Wrexham Dragons that was recently promoted to the English Football League 2 after winning the National League, Premier League team Wolverhampton Wanderers, Major League Soccer team Charlotte FC, and Mexican squad Necaxa among others.
The TST event will take place at the WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina from June 1-4.
Squads will be bracketed into eight groups with group play taking place from June 1 and June 2 with 16 teams advancing to the Knockout Round on the same day.
The quarterfinals and semifinals will be held on June 3 with the $1 Million Championship held on Sunday, June 4.