KUALA LUMPUR: After an absence of one year and two months, Mohamadou Sumareh will return to the national football team.
The naturalised Gambian-born winger has been called up to join the 25-man Malaysia team for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers.
Sumareh last donned the Harimau Malaya jersey in friendlies against Thailand and Tajikistan in September last year.
Another "surprise" call-up by national coach Kim Pan Gon was Afiq Fazail who last month was put on the standby list for the Merdeka Tournament.
Pan Gon has retained 20 of the 25 players that attended centralised training last month.
The five new players added to the list for the pre-World Cup campaign were goalkeeper Sikh Izhan Nazrel Sikh Azman, defenders Shahrul Saad and Syahmi Safari, midfielder Afiq and Sumareh. However, Syamer Kutty Abba and Azam Azih were unavailable due to injuries.
Last month, Johor Darul Ta'zim club owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim had raised some questions over Pan Gon's national training squad list.
Malaysia will meet Kyrgyzstan in their World Cup qualifying Group D opener on Nov 16 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil. The other teams in the group are Oman and Taiwan.