KUALA LUMPUR: Kim Pan Gon is not the type of coach that only believes in the tried and tested. He's certainly not averse to trying the untested, going by his latest choices of players.
Johor Darul Ta'zim defender Shahrul Saad believes that Pan Gon's call-up of a veritable number of new faces is a good move for the national team preparing for the AFF Cup from Dec 20-Jan 16.
The Korean coach has selected 41 players for centralised training which begins tomorrow. However, 12 players, including Shahrul, will not join due to injuries and other commitments.
"We can see promising players in several teams in the league who can be assets in the national team. So, it's good for them to be selected for the national team and gain international experience," said Shahrul.
"I think Pan Gon knows the players although he's new (as a national coach. I do believe he can do something for Malaysia at the AFF Cup," said Shahrul.
On his own career, Shahrul, 29, said he didn't expect to achieve the amazing treble of winning the Super League, FA Cup and Malaysia Cup with JDT this season.
"It's an indescribable feeling and I'm just grateful," said Shahrul.
Selangor midfielder Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi believes that the calling up of new faces will create healthy competition among national players for places in Harimau Malaya.
"I'm grateful to have been selected (for the national team). Maybe I worked hard and Pan Gon believes in me," he said.
Mukhairi said though he was disappointed that his team lost 2-1 to JDT in the Malaysia Cup final, he has learnt a valuable experience from the match.
Pan Gon is preparing Harimau Malaya for two Tier 1 international friendlies: against Cambodia (Dec 9) and the Maldives (Dec 14) before they compete in the AFF Cup. He is expected to drop seven names from the list, bringing only 23 names for the biennial competition.
In the 2020 edition, Malaysia failed to advance to the semi-finals, and this led to the resignation of national coach Tan Cheng Hoe.