PETALING JAYA: A total of 29 players have been called up by Harimau Malaya head coach Kim Pan Gon to participate in the central training camp beginning May 19 (Thursday) in preparation for the final round of the 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers as well as two Tier 1 international matches.
According to the list released by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), 20 of the 25 players brought to Singapore for the FAS 2022 tri-nation series match last March had been retained while the other nine were new additions.
The nine are Matthew Davies, Afiq Fazail, Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed, Junior Eldstal, Norshahrul Idlan Talaha and Guilherme de Paula, Syahmi Safari, Darren Lok and Nazmi Faiz Mansor.
Meanwhile, Aidil Zafuan Abd Radzak, Ramadhan Saifullah Usman and Zhafri Yahya are among the 11 players placed on the ready list.
“A total of 23 players will be registered in the final list for the final round of the 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers while the rest of the players will still have to be ready to be called up if there is a change in the final list,“ according to the statement.
Meanwhile, Pan Gon said he was confident with the ability of the players called up.
“It maybe a suprise for some players’ names (to be called up) but I don’t want to regret it so I want to see all the strength with my own eyes...for now, 29 players then finally it will be reduced to 20 players plus three (reserve players) so its a very competitive environment,“ he told reporters at Wisma FAM here today.
The Harimau Malaya squad is set to meet Brunei (May 27) and Hong Kong (June 1) for friendlies before participating in the 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium here from June 8-14.
The Harimau Malaya will face Turkmenistan on June 8, followed by Bahrain (June 11) and Bangladesh (June 14) in Group E of the qualifiers. - Bernama
