KUALA LUMPUR: The National Under-22 squad will do without the services of Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) rising star Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi (pix, in white) for the 2022 Asian Cup Under-23 qualifying round in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from Oct 25-31.
However, the Under-22 squad, under head coach Brad Maloney, can count on the German-based Annil R Vigneswaran, who plies his trade with SGV Freiberg, going by the final list of 23 players issued by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) today.
Maloney is also putting his faith on four young guns who saw action with the national senior squad in the international friendlies in Amman, Jordan recently, namely Luqman Hakim Shamsudin, Muhammad Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi, Quentin Cheng and Mohamad Hakimi Abdullah.
Meanwhile, five out of nine players from phase two of the Under-22 training camp are missing from the final list due to injuries. They are Ahmad Aysar Hadi Mohd Shapri, Muhammad Firdaus Ramli, Muhamad Alif Abdul Mutalib, Chia Ruo Han and K. Thivandaran.
Four other players who missed the final cut are Muhammad Firdaus Irman Mohd Fadhil, Muhammad Khairi Suffian Khaineyusri, Muhammad Aidil Azuan and Saiful Iskandar Adha Saiful Azlan.
For the qualifying campaign, Malaysia are up against Laos, host Mongolia and Thailand in Group J where all matches will be held at Mongolia Football Federation Stadium (MFF) in Ulaanbaatar.
Malaysia will play Laos on Oct 25, Mongolia (Oct 28) and Thailand (Oct 31) to hunt for a slot in the 2022 Asia Cup Under-23 Finals in Uzbekistan next June.- Bernama