SUMAREH GETS NATIONAL CALL UP
Gambia-born player thought call from Cheng Hoe was a prank
PAHANG winger Mohamadou Sumareh initially thought he had received a prank call from a person pretending to be national coach Tan Cheng Hoe who wanted to know whether he was available to play for Malaysia.
But in actual fact, it was Cheng Hoe who called the Gambianborn.
The 27-year-old, who was granted Malaysian citizenship recently, said he thought it was one of his Pahang teammates who was playing a prank.
“Frankly, I was planning for a vacation with my teammate Patrick Cruz before the call from an unidentified number.
“When I answered my phone, the caller identified himself as Cheng Hoe. He told me to join his team for centralised training.
“I honestly thought that it was a joke, though after speaking with him for a few minutes then I realised that it was all very real.
“So I am very happy and excited because it is a fantastic development for my career. I did not expect it. I am very grateful to the coach for this chance.
“Obviously, I want to give it my all,” said Sumareh.
If Sumareh earns his first cap against Sri Lanka in Colombo on Oct 12, he will become the first foreign-born naturalised player (with no ancestral ties) to represent Malaysia after independence.
The 22 trainees will report to Cheng Hoe on Monday.
They will be based in Melaka for two days, before heading to Colombo on Oct 10.
The team will also play Kyrgyzstan on Oct 16 at the Hang Jebat Stadium.
Hafizul Hakim Khairul Nizam Jothy, Haziq Nadzli, Khairul Fahmi Che Mat;
Shahrul Saad, Amirul Azhan Aznan, Adam Nor Azlin, Syazwan Andik Ishak, Irfan Zakaria, Matthew Davies, Rawilson Batuil, Fazly Mazlan;
Kenny Pallraj, Syamer Kutty Abba, Akram Mahinan, Azzizan Nordin, Mahalli Jasuli, Nor Hakim Hassan, Syazwan Zainon, Akhyar Rashid, Mohamadou Sumareh, Syahmi Safari;
Zaquan Adha Abd Radzak, Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, Shahrel Fikri Md Fauzi.