PETALING JAYA, March 10 — Newly appointed Harimau Malaya head coach Kim Pan-gon is set to experiment with a potential “new core” of the national team during the FAS Tri-nations Series 2022 in Singapore, as preparation for the 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers in June.

From the 30 players the South Korean announced today, only the UK-born Nathaniel Shio Hong Wan and Khair Muhammad Jefri Jones were first-timers for the senior team national call-up.

The rest of the squad are familiar faces, with former skipper Safiq Rahim, 35, making a return and 15 of the 24 players from the 2020 AFF Cup debacle late last year getting listed.

Pan-gon also included two naturalised players — winger Mohamadou Sumareh and attacking midfielder Liridon Krasniqi — but Guilherme de Paula was not in the list.

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Pan-gon said the panel of coaches discussed and evaluated the players based on their current Malaysian League performance and additional information from past statistics and minutes of play in international matches from 2019 and 2021.

“We have identified a pool of almost 70 players before narrowing it down to the players we believe are suited to our playing philosophy and tactical plans. We cannot be 100 per cent perfect, but we will analyse their ability in terms of technical, tactical and professional behaviour.

“After this camp, until June, we may have a lot of chances to watch the league every week, so we may get more players’ information from time to time. So we wanted to request the media and fans, please support us, wait a bit, then we will try our best to select the best for Malaysia,” he said in a press conference at Wisma FAM here today.

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He declined to comment on the selection of players on an individual basis.

Pan-gon said although the short-term objective for the call-up is to prepare for the Asian Qualifiers in June, his long-term vision was among others to build a Malaysian team game model (the Malaysian way of playing) and rediscover team confidence to create a strong team spirit and winning mentality.

The Harimau Malaya squad is scheduled to face the Philippines on March 23 and hosts Singapore on March 26 in the International Tier 1 Friendly matches at the Singapore National Stadium, before playing Singapore League side Albirex Niigata on March 28 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The players will have to report for the camp at a hotel here on March 14 and are scheduled to train at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium for eight days until their departure to Singapore on March 22. — Bernama

The full list of call-ups:

  1. Mohd Farizal Marlias, 36 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  2. Muhammad Syahmi Safari, 24 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  3. Mohamad Aidil Zafuan Abd Radzak, 35 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  4. Shahrul Mohd Saad, 29 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  5. Corbin-Ong La’vere Lawrence, 31 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  6. Mohamed Syamer Kutty Abba, 25 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  7. Nathaniel Shio Hong Wan, 22 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  8. Muhammad Nazmi Faiz Mansor, 28 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  9. Safiq Rahim, 35 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  10. Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi, 20 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  11. Muhammad Safawi Rasid, 25 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  12.  Muhammad Akhyar Abdul Rashid, 23 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  13.  Mohamadou Sumareh, 28 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  14.  Muhammad Ramadhan Saifullah Usman, 22 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  15.  Mohd Khairulazhan Mohd Khalid, 33 — Selangor FC
  16.  Quentin Cheng Jiun-Ho, 23 — Selangor FC
  17. Sharul Nazeem Zulpakar, 23 — Selangor FC
  18. Muhammad Rahadiazli Rahalim, 21 — Terengganu FC
  19.  Mohamad Hakimi Abdullah, 23 — Terengganu FC
  20.  Mohamad Faisal Abdul Halim, 24 — Terengganu FC
  21. Kalamullah Al-Hafiz Mat Rowi, 27 — Petaling Jaya City FC
  22. Kogileswaran Raj Mohana Raj, 24 — Petaling Jaya City FC
  23.  Darren Yee Deng Lok, 32 — Petaling Jaya City FC
  24.  Muhammad Syafiq Ahmad, 27 — Kedah Darul Aman FC
  25.  Dominic Tan Jun Jin, 25 — Sabah FC
  26.  Khair Muhammad Jefri Jones, 33 — Negri Sembilan FC
  27. Muhamad Nor Azam Abdul Azih, 27 — Sri Pahang FC
  28.  Luqman Hakim Shamsudin, 20 — KV Kortrijk
  29.  Dion-Johan Cools, 26 — SV Zulte Waregem
  30.  Liridon Krasniqi, 30 — Odisha FC

Players on waiting list:

  1. Kenny Pallraj Davaragi, 29 — Kuala Lumpur City FC
  2. Muhammad Akram Mahinan, 29 — Kuala Lumpur City FC
  3. Muhammad Hadin Azman, 28 — Kuala Lumpur City FC
  4. Zhafri Yahya, 28 — Kuala Lumpur City FC
  5. Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed, 26 — Negri Sembilan FC
  6.  Ahmad Khuzaimi Piee, 29 — Negri Sembilan FC
  7. Mohd Rizal Mohd Ghazali, 30 — Sabah FC
  8. V. Ruventhiran, 21 — Petaling Jaya City FC
  9. Ahmad Hazwan Bakri, 31 — Johor Darul Ta’zim FC
  10. Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, 36 — Melaka United FC — Bernama