A 23-man Harimau Malaya squad for the FIFA ASEAN Cup, nine of them from Johor Darul Ta’zim
FAM has named 23 players for the FIFA ASEAN Cup in Jakarta and Bandung, nine of them at Johor Darul Ta’zim. Harimau Malaya open against Bangladesh on 25 September.
News desk2 min read
FAM has named a 23-man Harimau Malaya squad for the FIFA ASEAN Cup in Jakarta and Bandung, and the striking thing about the list is how much of it comes out of one dressing room.
Nine from one club
Nine of the 23 players are at Johor Darul Ta’zim, with a tenth at the club’s second team. Selangor FC and Terengganu FC supply three each, Kuching City FC two and Negeri Sembilan FC one. The remaining four are based abroad, in Indonesia, Thailand, Japan and Cyprus.
Only five players are kept from the 25 Tan Cheng Hoe took to the ASEAN Championship in July and August, so this is close to a full recall of the senior names.
Three cleared this month
FIFA confirmed Bergson da Silva and Brad Tapp eligible for Malaysia on 13 September, and Manuel Hidalgo on 17 September. All three are in the squad, and all three play for Johor Darul Ta’zim.
The group and the schedule
Malaysia are in Group A with hosts Indonesia, Singapore and Bangladesh, while Group B has Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Pakistan. The opening match is against Bangladesh at Gelora Bung Karno on 25 September, then Indonesia at the same ground on 28 September and Singapore in Bandung on 1 October. The final is on 5 October, with the third-place match earlier the same day.
Camp opens at home on 21 September and the squad flies to Jakarta the next day, which leaves a single day of work together before the travel.
The reference point
Harimau Malaya’s last campaign ended in the semi-finals of the ASEAN Championship, beaten 0-2 at home on 16 August and 2-0 in Hanoi three days later.
That is the standard this squad is measured against, and the three names added this month are the clearest change since. A tournament of three group matches leaves very little room to grow into it.
The age-group sides have supplied the better news lately: the under-19s reached the AFC U20 Asian Cup finals this month.
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StraitScore Desk
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