KUALA LUMPUR – The selection of the 26-man Harimau Malaya squad for the upcoming friendly matches against Syria and China was made based on merit.
National head coach Kim Pan-gon said that he selected players who are well-versed in his style of play, as the Korean has been monitoring their performance throughout the last year.
“All the players that I have selected understand my tactics, game mentality, and the system which I implement during games.
“These players were chosen on merit, and my coaching team and I have been closely watching these players over the past year and a half.
“I have full confidence in their capability as I know what they can do on the pitch,” said Pan-gon.
Commenting on Harimau Malaya’s recent form, Pan-gon believes the team needs more challenging friendly matches to prepare for the AFC Asian Cup Championship.
“I’m proud to say that we have won 16 out of 21 games since I took over. So, I won’t deny the fact that we have been performing well.
“However, it has been a while since we played a higher-ranking team. The last time we played a higher-ranked team was against Thailand, Bahrain, and Tajikistan in the King Cup in September last year.
“I’m happy that we will be playing against Syria and China, as these are really good teams, and it’s going to be good preparation for our players ahead of the tougher fixtures in the AFC Cup,” Pan-gon told reporters when met during training at Wisma FAM today.
Pan-gon said his players should increase their level of focus if they hope to see decent results in their upcoming friendly games.
“We tend to score first in most of our recent games. Upon scoring, we don’t focus on holding on to our lead and then we concede due to overconfidence.
“We should really work on this as a team if we wish to succeed in crucial games,” said Pan-gon.
Malaysia, ranked 136th in the world, is scheduled to play friendly matches against Syria (ranked 94th) on September 6 and China (ranked 80th) on September 9 in Chengdu, China.
About 15 players have been retained by Pan-gon from the initial 26 players called up for centralised training in June. Among the players making a comeback are captain Dion Cools, goalkeepers Kalamullah Al-Hafiz Mat Rowi and Damien Lim, Darren Lok, Quentin Cheng,
Additionally, three players from the 2022 AFF Cup squad – Sharul Nazeem Zulpakar, Sergio Aguero, and Nur Shamie Iszuan Amin – have also been included in the squad.
One notable inclusion is Johor Darul Ta’zim midfielder Nathaniel Shio, who received his first national call-up. – August 29, 2023