BY ZULHILMI ZAINAL Follow on Twitter
Malaysia U-19 and PKNS FC defender Shivan Pillay Asokan has two aims this year; to get competitive appearances at club level, and help the junior national team qualify for the 2020 Olympics.
The 18-year old centre back, when met in a promotional Adidas event on Saturday, said that he is eager to improve at the Red Ants this season.
"I would love to play a few matches at least with the senior team. Recently I went on pre-season with them, and got to play in a few games. It was a positive experience for me. I hope I can get more playing time for PKNS in the future.
"Datuk K. Rajagopal (head coach) is a nice person, he always tells to work harder, and that my time will come and I have to keep pushing myself.
"I'm close to Shahrom Kalam, K. Gurusamy and Romel [Morales], who constantly tell me to be prepared to be called, to make sure that I won't lose my place afterwards," said Shivan in the event that was held in Subang Jaya.
The defender, who has also started his tertiary education at the pre-university level this year, is also adamant on helping the Malaysia U-23 team reach the Olympics next year, in Tokyo, Japan.
The Young Tigers will play in the 2020 AFC U-23 Championship qualifiers next month, and the top three finishers of the final stage will receive an Olympic slot each as Asia's representatives.
He was called up to the squad for the 2018 edition, in which Malaysia reached the final eight.
"On top of this, I also want to fight for a place in the Malaysia U-23 team, and to help them get to the Tokyo Olympics."
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