Faisal Ready To Repay National Coach's Trust If Included In Lineup
JOHOR BAHRU, May 25 (Bernama) -- National player, Faisal Halim, is determined to repay the trust of head coach Peter Cklamovski by helping Harimau Malaya achieve success if given an opportunity to join the squad for upcoming matches.
According to Faisal, he is 100 percent ready and will give his best, acting as a morale booster for the team to play with more spirit and achieve encouraging results.
The Selangor FC winger said this is the second call-up from the Australian-born head coach, and he feels it was time for him to regain what he had missed previously.
"Alhamdulillah...I received another call from coach (Cklamovski) and I am determined to rediscover my previous rhythm of play... in fact, now I am more enthusiastic and want to forget the dark moments that happened.
"However, I leave it to the coach... if he (Cklamovski) feels I'm not ready, I have no problem, but as a player, I will give my best," he told reporters at a press conference for the Tier 1 international friendly against Cape Verde and the second Group F match of the 2026/2027 Asia Cup Qualifiers at the National Stadium, here, today.
Faisal added that the match on May 29 is also an important one for the squad as preparation to face Vietnam, a team ranked higher than the national team, and demands a better performance.
"That's just ranking, we will display quality performance on the field later, we will be able to gauge the team's performance whether we need to improve or if we are ready enough to face Vietnam," he said.
Meanwhile, Cklamovski said he was happy with the training held in Johor Bahru which was divided into three phases and has now entered the second phase with more focus on forming game formations and tactical implementation, this time involving several Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) players.
He also commented that Endrick Dos Santos' presence in the training camp seemed less fit and only trained for one day and needed to be rested for a while to undergo the recovery process, while goalkeeper, Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed, reported himself in satisfactory physical condition.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Johor Motorsport Racing triumph in Thailand brings a nice birthday gift for King
KUALA LUMPUR: His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, extended his congratulations to the Johor Motorsports Racing (JMR) team following their victory in the second race at the Buriram International Circuit, Thailand, in the GT World Challenge Asia series, on Sunday (June 1). In a post on the Facebook page of Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, His Majesty also described the JMR team's success as a meaningful gift in conjunction with His Majesty's official birthday on Monday. "JMR's win in today's race and second place finish yesterday (May 31) is a nice birthday gift for me. "My congratulations to my son (Tunku Panglima Johor (TPJ) Tunku Abdul Rahman Al-Haj) and his teammate, Ben Green, for this outstanding achievement. "To my other son (Tunku Putera Johor Tunku Abu Bakar Al-Haj), do not be sad or lose heart - continue striving in the races to come," said His Majesty. Earlier, JMR in a statement said the team secured podium finishes in the fifth and sixth rounds of the GT World Challenge Asia in Buriram. The results also bring TPJ to the top of the championship driver point standings with a 62-point lead at the midway point of the season. - Bernama
The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Mo'unga shrugs off broken hand to win Japanese title
FORMER All Black Richie Mo'unga shrugged off a broken hand to extend his remarkable title-winning streak after leading Toshiba Brave Lupus to their second straight Japanese championship on Sunday. The fly-half has finished every season in top-level domestic rugby since 2017 with a winner's medal and he picked up another as Toshiba beat Kubota Spears 18-13 in the Japan Rugby League One final. He had to do it the hard way after breaking his right hand in the closing stages of last week's semi-final win, with coach Todd Blackadder expecting his star man was '70-30' to miss the final. Mo'unga said he spent three days in an oxygen chamber in the build-up to the game and 'knew all along that I was going to play'. 'I knew it wasn't impossible to play this weekend, and obviously a final, it's a no-brainer really,' said the 31-year-old. 'You want to give yourself the best chance to be part of something special.' Mo'unga joined Toshiba on a three-year deal after helping New Zealand reach the 2023 World Cup final, where they lost to South Africa. He gave another playmaking masterclass in front of more than 50,000 fans at Tokyo's National Stadium. Mo'unga scored his team's first try with less than 10 minutes on the clock and set up their second with a crafty dummy early in the second half. He also scored eight points with his boot. Mo'unga won seven Super Rugby titles with the Crusaders in New Zealand and said he was 'so grateful to be part of winning teams'. 'I try to tell some of the boys in our team not to take this moment for granted because a lot of people don't win, and a lot of people don't win back to back,' he said. - 'Ultimate team man' - Mo'unga jinked through the opposition defence to open the scoring in the eighth minute. He also started the second half strongly, taking out a defender with a dummy before slipping the ball to Yuto Mori for Toshiba's second try. Mo'unga said the pain in his hand made 'things just a little bit harder' but did not affect his game. 'Once you get out there, you just play rugby and try not to think about it too much,' he said. Toshiba's victory denied Kubota's Australian fly-half Bernard Foley and South African hooker Malcolm Marx a second title in Japan. Marx said he was not aware that Mo'unga was carrying an injury. 'He's a great player, he showed that how he performed today even with a broken hand,' said Marx. 'It shows his resilience.' Toshiba finished the regular season in first place, which earned them a bye into the play-off semi-finals. Third-placed Kubota had to come through a quarter-final and were looking to regain the title that they won in 2023. Toshiba coach Blackadder hailed Mo'unga's influence on his side, calling him the 'ultimate team man'. 'At the start of the week, we weren't sure,' he said of Mo'unga's injury. 'It was 70-30 that he wouldn't be available and he just found a way.'
New Straits Times
5 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Malaysia say 'no friendly' to Indonesia
KUALA LUMPUR: For a change, the national football team get to say no to others. For years, Malaysia found it hard to get teams to play international friendlies against them due to the country's low world ranking. But this time, the FA of Malaysia (FAM) has reportedly turned down an invitation from the Indonesia FA (PSSI). Indonesian media reported PSSI president Erick Thohir as saying that their proposal to have a friendly with Harimau Malaya in September was turned down by FAM. "We have long missed playing against Malaysia. One opportunity was during the Fifa window in September. We extended an invitation to Malaysia. "However, perhaps the Malaysia senior team have other considerations as they are currently in the process of strengthening the squad," said Erick. He said fans, too, are eager to see a clash between these Southeast Asian rivals, who have not faced each other for some time. Their last meeting was four years ago with Indonesia beating Malaysia 4-1 in an AFF Cup match. FAM secretary-general Datuk Noor Azman Rahman confirmed that Malaysia had rejected the PSSI invitation as national head coach Peter Cklamovski has other plans for Harimau Malaya.
