KUALA LUMPUR: Naturalised Brazilian Paulo Josue believes his KL City teammate Romel Morales will be an asset when Malaysia play in the Asian Cup in Doha, Qatar next month.
Josue, who obtained Malaysian citizenship earlier this year, hopes the Colombian forward will play a crucial role in Harimau Malaya's first Asian Cup campaign since the 2007 edition.
Josue, a 34-year-old midfielder, and Morales, a 24-year-old forward, share a "telepathic understanding" at KL City, contributing to the team's success in winning the Malaysia Cup title in 2021 and being runners-up in the 2022 AFC Cup and 2023 FA Cup.
"It's good news as I will have one of my best mates in the national team, and I'm really looking forward to it," said Josue.
"He can dribble, hold the ball and score goals. His inclusion is definitely a boost for Harimau Malaya.
"We also have Darren Lok, a hardworking striker in the team, but having more options definitely makes us stronger."
Josue, who has made eight appearances and scored four goals for Harimau Malaya, added: "Morales is still young and has eight to 10 years of top-level football left in him."
National coach Kim Pan Gon retained 22 players from his team who played against Kyrgyzstan and Taiwan in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers last month.
New inclusions in the squad include Johor Darul Ta'zim midfielders Syamer Kutty Abba and Natxo Insa, along with Selangor defender Ahmad Khuzaimi Piee.
Injuries led to the exclusion of defenders Sharul Nazeem Zulpakar of Selangor and Terengganu's Azam Azmi Murad from Pan Gon's 26-member squad.
Being one of the lowest-ranked teams in the Asian Cup, Josue said Harimau Malaya will start as underdogs in the tournament.
Malaysia co-hosted the 2007 Asian Cup, and it has been 43 years since Harimau Malaya last qualified on merit for the competition.
"We have nothing to lose in the Asian Cup. We know where we stand, and there is no pressure. We will be out to create upsets against the higher-ranked teams," he added.
Malaysia are in Group E at the Asian Cup and will kick off their campaign against world No. 87 Jordan at the Al Janoub Stadium on Jan 15.
They will complete their group fixtures against world No. 86 Bahrain at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Jan 20 and 23rd-ranked South Korea at the Al Janoub Stadium on Jan 25.
THE SQUAD — Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed, Matthew Davies, La'vere Corbin-Ong, Endrick dos Santos, Arif Aiman Hanapi, Safawi Rasid, Akhyar Rashid, Shahrul Saad, Syahmi Safari, Afiq Fazail, Mohamadou Sumareh, Syamer Kutty Abba, Natxo Insa, Dominic Tan, Daniel Ting, Stuart Wilkin, Darren Lok, Brendan Gan, Faisal Halim, Ahmad Khuzaimi Piee, Azri Ab Ghani, Paulo Josue, Romel Morales, Sikh Izhan Nazrel Sikh Azman, Dion-Johan Cools, Junior Eldstal.