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KUALA LUMPUR, November 10, 2026 – The Football Association of Malaysia has issued an updated 23-man Harimau Malaya squad for this month’s international friendlies against China and Yemen, with seven players from Kuching City included after six Selangor players withdrew because of injury.
Interim head coach Tan Cheng Hoe’s revised party will meet China on Saturday, November 14, at 8:00pm and Yemen on Tuesday, November 17, at 2:00pm, according to FAM. Both matches will be played at the Zhaoqing New District Sports Centre in Guangdong, China, and are listed by FAM as Tier 1 internationals.
The seven Kuching City players named in the updated list are goalkeepers Haziq Nadzli and Haziq Aiman Esa, defenders Rodney Celvin Akwensivie and Ariff Farhan Md Isa, midfielders Ryan Lambert and Safawi Rasid, and forward Ramadhan Saifullah Usman.
FAM said five players from the standby list had been called up by Cheng Hoe: goalkeeper Suhaimi Husin and Safwan Mazlan of Terengganu, Dominic Tan of Sabah, Ariff Farhan of Kuching City, and Syafiq Ahmad of Kuala Lumpur City. They replace six Selangor players who, FAM said, could not join the camp because of injury: goalkeeper Sikh Izhan Nazrel Sikh Azman, Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar, Ahmad Zikir Khalili, Nooa Laine, Syahir Bashah and A. Selvan.
Terengganu are also strongly represented in the revised squad, which includes Azam Azmi Murad, Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili, Haziq Kutty Abba, G. Pavithran and Romel Morales, as well as the two standby call-ups. Kuala Lumpur City contribute Paulo Josué and Syafiq Ahmad. Overseas-based players named by FAM include Dion Cools of Cerezo Osaka, Daniel Ting of Ratchaburi, Richard Chin of Ross County and Fergus Tierney of PAC Omonia 29M. Endrick dos Santos and Dominic Tan of Sabah are also on the list.
The squad reported on the evening of Monday, November 9, and left for China on the morning of Tuesday, November 10, FAM said. The association issued the updated list the same day.
According to the latest FIFA rankings cited by FAM, Malaysia are 133rd in the world, China 96th and Yemen 144th.
The New Straits Times, in a report on November 11, said the call-ups had made Kuching City a central part of the national squad for these friendlies, particularly in the absence of Johor Darul Ta’zim players and with the Selangor withdrawals. FAM’s statement itself does not discuss the Johor situation; it confines itself to the updated 23 names, the Selangor injuries and the standby replacements.
Source: Football Association of Malaysia, with additional reporting from the New Straits Times.
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