KUALA LUMPUR: In star-studded Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT), Nathaniel Shio made their first 11 team in their last nine Super League games.
He also played a full 90 minutes in the Southern Tigers' 3-0 win over Police in the FA Cup last 16 at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium.
That speaks volumes about the 22-year-old defensive midfielder's ability.
Nathaniel, who is of English-Malaysian parentage, has proved to be an asset to JDT, and he could be, too, for the national team.
JDT coach Esteban Solari said: "Nathaniel is intelligent, reads the game. He executes it when you ask him to do something, he's 100 per cent on that.
"He provides for everyone, sees a hole in defence, puts something there, goes in there to solve the problem.
"He understands what I need from him.
"He also gave us plenty of freekicks, so I'm happy with him. He brings JDT a lot of happiness."
Nathaniel got a call-up to the national team for the Tri-Nations Series in Singapore last year, but he was dropped from the final list due to injury.
Meanwhile, JDT's league game against Kelantan United tomorrow has been postponed to May 13.