Coach assures players of equal chance
NATIONAL youth coach Ong Kim Swee has given an assurance that all 30 players he called up for centralised training have an equal chance of making the final squad for the AFC Under-23 Championship in January.
While retaining 17 players from the side that won a silver medal at the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games in August, Kim Swee also named four players from the national Under-19 team along with Pahang's 19-year-old midfielder M. Kogileswaran Raj.
Injuries, however, ruled out Kedah duo Amirul Hisyam Awang Kechik and Ariff Farhan Isa and Penang forward S. Kumaahran.
Aside from recalling several others who missed the Sea Games cut, Kim Swee said he has a wide array of players to choose from for his final 23-man squad but they must prove to him they deserve the right to be selected.
"The players must realise that we are no longer going to be playing at the Southeast Asian level but we are going to face Asia's best teams," said Kim Swee of the Under-23 championship in China which begins on Jan 10.
"I am looking for players who can work hard and have the right technical skills to play against the Asian teams. Players who can attack and defend at the same time will have an advantage while they also need to keep focus at all times."
With the likes of Under-19 players Hadi Fayyadh Abd Razak, K. Thivandran, Nik Akif Syahiran Nik Mat and A. Shivan Pillay also called up, Kim Swee said they have a chance of making the final squad just like everyone else.
"Everybody in the team has an equal chance of being selected," he said.
"We will play two friendly matches here before leaving for South Korea and China to continue our preparation and I will use these games to evaluate the players."
Malaysia will face Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia in Group B and Kim Swee knows the national team have their work cut out.
"These teams are techically better than us and they are very fast," said Kim Swee.
"We have to find a way to stop them from playing. We have quick players ourselves and we will use our own pace to trouble them.”
The 30 players report for training at Wisma FAM on Monday and will play two friendly matches against yet-to-be-named opponents before travelling to Mokpo, South Korea on Dec 17 for a twoweek camp.
Haziq Nadzli (JDT), Ifwat Akmal Chek Kassim (Kedah), Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed (Kelantan), Amierul Hakimi Awang (Terengganu);
Dominic Tan, Adam Nor Azlin (both JDT), Syazwan Andik Ishak (JDT II), Adib Zainuddin (Felcra), Matthew Davies (Pahang), Raphi Azizan Mariappen (PJ Rangers), A. Shivan Pillay (PKNS), Irfan Zakaria (Kuala Lumpur), Syazwan Zaipol Bahari (Perak SEDC);
Syamer Kutty Abba (JDT), Danial Ashraf Abdullah, Nik Akif Syahiran Nik Mat (both Kelantan), Nor Azam Azih, M. Kogileswaran Raj (both Pahang), Tommy Mawat Bada (PJ Rangers), Danial Amier Norhisham (Felda), Ahmad Khairil Anuar Zamri (Perak), K. Thivandran (Penang), Syahmi Safari (Selangor);
Safawi Rasid (JDT), Syafiq Ahmad, Akhyar Rashid (both Kedah), N. Thanabalan (Felcra), Hadi Fayyadh Abd Razak (JDT II), Jafri Firdaus Chew (PKNS), Sean Eugene Selvaraj (N Sembilan). Devinder Singh