KUALA TERENGGANU – National defender Junior Eldstal has a new reason for wanting to do his best for his club and national team: his 4-month-old daughter.
Even though he has loved football since he was a child, the Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) player is not shy to say that his daughter’s birth has inspired him to do his best.
“Now I have a baby girl who’s four months old…she’s my motivation (to play better) so she can see her daddy at the stadium.
“I love football, and I’m happy to play for my country and club.
“I do love the fans and everything about football, and that’s why I wanted to be a professional footballer.
“That was what I dreamt of doing when I was a kid, and that’s my motivation every day,” the mixed Malaysian-Swede told reporters at the team’s hotel here today.
Junior is one of the 27 players called up for the Tier 1 friendly matches against the Solomon Islands last Wednesday and Papua New Guinea this Tuesday at Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Kuala Nerus but was not fielded in the team’s 4-1 win against the Solomon Islands.
He might just have his chance in the upcoming match against Papua New Guinea as defender Muhamad Feroz is unavailable due to injury.
Junior, who was on loan to Thai club PT Prachuap previously, was reported to have been treated unfairly and had a difficult time during his time there.
He made three appearances with the club.
“I don’t want to dwell much about the loan and what happened there...I knew I had a chance to be called back to JDT, so I needed to be fit on and off the field,” he said.
Junior has garnered 16 caps for Malaysia since his first a decade ago. – Bernama, June 18, 2023
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