FAM names the final 23 for the FIFA ASEAN Cup, with three replacements confirmed

FAM has published the final 23-man Harimau Malaya squad for the FIFA ASEAN Cup, which opens in Jakarta on Friday. Three of the names on it are new since the list the federation first issued last week.

Three from the standby list

Tan Cheng Hoe, the interim head coach, brought in Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar, Syahir Bashah and Paulo Josue on the opening day of centralised camp on Monday 21 September, in place of Faris Danish Asrul, Sergio Aguero and Romel Morales, all three of whom are injured.

Those changes had already been reported this week, but this is the first time FAM has set them down itself, and the first time the three who miss out have been named together by the federation.

Where the 23 play their club football

Nine of the squad are at Johor Darul Ta’zim and five at Selangor FC. Terengganu FC and Kuching City FC supply two each, Negeri Sembilan FC and Kuala Lumpur City one each, and the remaining three are based abroad, in Thailand, Cyprus and Japan.

That leaves twenty of the twenty-three playing their weekly football inside Malaysia, which is the clearest measure yet of how much this campaign rests on the domestic league.

Group A, by world ranking

The release places Malaysia 136th in the world, the hosts Indonesia 118th, Singapore 148th and Bangladesh 181st.

The campaign opens against Bangladesh at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta on 25 September, kicking off at 5pm Malaysian time. Indonesia follow at the same ground on 28 September, and Singapore in Bandung on 1 October, completing the group schedule.

The final is on 5 October at Gelora Bung Karno, with the third-place match earlier the same day.

One day together

The squad flew to Jakarta on Tuesday 22 September, the day after camp opened. That is a single full day of work together before the travel, and three group matches inside a week once they land.

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