Key players omitted from next Malaysia U-22 training camp

Head coach Ong Kim Swee has chosen to give the newcomers in his squad with more chances to prove themselves.

BY ZULHILMI ZAINAL Follow on Twitter

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Malaysia U-22 head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee has listed 25 names for his side's next training camp, ahead of the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualifying round in March.

The training camp, which will begin in Kelana Jaya on January 9 and culminate in a January 13-19 trip to Bangkok to play in three friendly matches, however will not be joined by several of their key players.

For example, the names of Akhyar Rashid, Safawi Rasid, Syahmi Safari and Syamer Kutty Abba, who recently turned out for the Malaysia senior team in the 2018 AFF Championship, are absent from the list. Also left out from the list were defender Dominic Tan and goalkeeper Haziq Nadzli, two players from the previous squad which reached the quarter-finals of the 2018 edition, who are still eligible for the next cycle.

However, according to Kim Swee, this camp has been arranged with the emphasis of providing more opportunities for the new faces to prove themselves.

"This (the camp) will provide a better picture and the chance to try out more combinations before the final camp is arranged in March for the AFC qualifiers, which will include Safawi, Syahmi, Syamer Kutty, Haziq, Dominic and the rest," he wrote on his Twitter account.

Furthermore, it is believed that Syahmi, Akhyar, Safawi and Syamer have been left out in order to allow them to join their respective clubs' pre-season preparations. Many of the Malaysia internationals only joined their clubs' pre-season training in the past week, having been given a break after helping the national team reach second place in the AFF Championship.

The 25-man training camp list:

NO.	NAME	CLUB
1.	DANIEL AMIER NORHISHAM	FELDA UNITED FC
2.	MUHAMMAD ZAHRIL AZRI	FELDA UNITED FC
3.	MUHAMMAD AZRI AB GHANI	FELDA UNITED FC
4.	AZARUL NAZARITH	FELDA UNITED FC
5.	MOHAMAD HARIZ KAMARUDIN	JOHOR DARUL TA’ZIM II
6.	MOHD FAZRUL DANEL MOHD NIZAM	KEDAH
7.	NIK AKIF SYAHIRAN NIK MAT	KELANTAN
8.	MUHAMMAD DANIAL HAQIM DRAMAN	KELANTAN
9.	MOHAMAD SHARUL NIZAM ROS HASNI	KELANTAN
10.	MUHAMMAD SYAIFUL ALIAS	KELANTAN
11.	AFIQ SALUDDIN	KELANTAN
12.	MUHD JUZAERUL JASMI	KELANTAN
13.	MUHAMMAD DANISH HAZIQ SAIPUL HISHAM	NEGERI SEMBILAN
14.	KOGILESWARAN RAJ	PAHANG
15.	MOHD FAISAL ABDUL HALIM	PAHANG
16.	MUHAMMAD NAZIRUL AFIF IBRAHIM	PERAK
17.	DAMIEN LIM CHIEN KHAI	PKNS
18.	ARIFF AR RASYID ARIFFIN	PKNS
19.	MUHAMMAD JAFRI CHEW	PKNS
20.	ARIUSDIUS JAIS	SABAH
21.	EVAN WENSLEY WENCESLAUS	SABAH
22.	JORDON OLLERENSHAW	SABAH
23.	MUHAMMAD AMIRUL HAZIQ RASMIZAL	SELANGOR
24.	MUHAMMAD IZZAN SYAHMI MUSTAPA	TERENGGANU
25.	KHATUL ANUAR MD JALIL	KUALA LUMPUR

Kim Swee has had considerable success with the junior side in the past two years. In July 2017, he guided them to the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship finals as qualification group champions, before ending their Southeast Asian Games campaign as runners up less than a month later. In the AFC finals in January 2018, they became the first ever Southeast Asian side to reach the knockout stage in the competition, before they were edged out 2-1 by South Korea in the quarter-finals. They then exacted revenge against the same side in the 2018 Asian Games to emerge as group winners, although the East Asian side would go on to win the tournament.

Most recently, Kim Swee's charges finished the 2018 Newspaper Cup in third place.

In the 2020 edition qualifiers, Malaysia have been drawn in Group J alongside China, Laos and the Philippines, with the six matches set to be held in Malaysia. Group winners will earn automatic spots in the finals, alongside four best second-place finishers.

The finals, set to be held in Thailand in January 2020, will see the top three finishers also qualifying to the 2020 Olympics.

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