"I don’t know if I will consider him (De Jong) because of lack of discipline," Weiss said shortly before leaving for Germany to personally recruit players for the Azkals’ Asian World Cup qualifying series against Sri Lanka in June.

"A player on the national team can’t behave like him," added Weiss of De Jong, 21, although he declined to elaborate what the problem was with the mid-fielder.

Playing as the "enforcer" in midfield, De Jong was a vital cog in the Azkals’ successful campaign in last year’s AFF Suzuki Cup where the country reached the semifinals of Southeast Asia’s men’s football championship for the first time in its 14-year history.

De Jong was also apparently giving problems to his Indonesian ballclub Persiba Balikpapan, which signed him up for $80,000 for the rest of the Indonesian Super League.

Indonesian news reports said De Jong was sanctioned by his club recently after he reportedly threw a fit and left the stadium when he was benched by coach Haryadi in a match against Arema.

After seeing action in the opening leg of the Asian Cup Challenge match in Mongolia last Feb. 9 in Bacolod City, De Jong did not play in the second match in Ulan Bator and the ACC group stage tournament last week in Myanmar.

Weiss said he had several options to fill in the vacuum left by De Jong, including Filipino-Germans Manuel Ott and Stefan Schrock, who play for separate squads in the German second division.

"Ott will be ready by June 3 and is presently close to breaking into the first team. He will be match fit," said Weiss, referring to the 19-year-old midfielder who suits up for Inglostadt.

Bong Pedralvez, Business Malaya Insight