KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 19 (Bernama) -- Kuala Lumpur (KL) City FC's naturalised striker Romel Morales stands a chance to don Malaysia's jersey for the first time after being called up to attend the Harimau Malaya centralised training camp ahead of the Jan 12-Feb 10 Asian Cup Finals in Doha, Qatar.
The 26-year-old, from Colombia, is among the 26 players called up by head coach Kim Pan Gon for the centralised training camp at Wisma FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) from Dec 26.
Morales, who netted 15 goals in the recently-concluded Malaysia League (M-League), is the fourth naturalised player in the Harimau Malaya list this time, the others being his KL City teammate Paulo Josue and Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) duo Endrick Dos Santos and Mohamadou Sumareh.
Based on the team list this time, Pan Gon has retained 22 players from the 25-man squad who recorded two victories in the 2026 World Cup/2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers against Kyrgyzstan and Taiwan last month.
Apart from Morales, the other three new faces in the training squad are JDT's Mohamed Syamer Kutty Abba and Natxo Insa, who is of mixed heritage, and Selangor FC's Ahmad Khuzaimi Piee.
"A total of 19 players have been place on standby in case there are any changes to the (26-player) list. Two players, Shahrul Nazeem Zulpakar and Azam Azmi Murad, could not be called up due to injuries,” FAM said in a statement today.
In the Asian Cup Finals, Malaysia will begin their Group E campaign against Jordan on Jan 15, followed by Bahrain on Jan 20 and two-time champions and hot favourites South Korea on Jan 25.
The winners and runners-up of each group, together with the four best third-placed teams, will advance to the round of 16.
Pan Gon aims to help Malaysia create history by qualifying for the round of 16 for the first time in Malaysia's fourth appearance in this prestigious Asian football tournament.
Following is the list of 26 players called up for the Harimau Malaya centralised training camp to be held at Wisma FAM from Dec 26 ahead of next month's Asian Cup Finals:
| No. | Name | Team |
| 1. | Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed | JDT |
| 2. | Matthew Davies | JDT |
| 3. | La’vere Lawrence Corbin-ong | JDT |
| 4. | Endrick Dos Santos | JDT |
| 5. | Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi | JDT |
| 6. | Muhammad Safawi Rasid | JDT |
| 7. | Muhammad Akhyar Abdul Rashid | JDT |
| 8. | Shahrul Mohd Saad | JDT |
| 9. | Muhammad Syahmi Safari | JDT |
| 10. | Mohd Afiq Fazail | JDT |
| 11. | Mohamadou Sumareh | JDT |
| 12. | Mohamed Syamer Kutty Abba | JDT |
| 13. | Natxo Insa | JDT |
| 14. | Dominic Tan | Sabah FC |
| 15. | Daniel Sang Ting | Sabah FC |
| 16. | Stuart John Wilkin | Sabah FC |
| 17. | Darren Lok | Sabah FC |
| 18. | Brendan Gan | Selangor FC |
| 19. | Mohamad Faisal Abdul Halim | Selangor FC |
| 20. | Ahmad Khuzaimi Piee | Selangor FC |
| 21. | Muhammad Azri Ab Ghani | KL City FC |
| 22. | Paulo Josue | KL City FC |
| 23. | Romel Morales | KL City FC |
| 24. | Sikh Izhan Nazrel Sikh Azman | Negeri Sembilan FC |
| 25. | Dion-johan Cools | Buriram United |
| 26. | Junior Eldstal | Dewa United FC |
-- BERNAMA
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