Mukhairi Ajmal, a midfielder of Malaysia’s national team, dreams of returning to the Malaysia national team after not being selected for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 in Qatar last January.
Mukhairi, who has to compete with the ranks of senior players, is ready to give everything to win a place in Kim Pan Gon’s squad, which will continue the challenge in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Asian Qualifiers Round 2 Group D this month.
“I want to be on the squad for Oman, and I will do my best to show what I have (in the central training camp). I think (the team’s game) is a lot different now because we have qualified for the Asian Cup.” he said.
“What I saw was that the intensity of the game was very different, very fast, so I had to correct my shortcomings and improve my performance as the coach wanted,”
Commenting further, Mukhairi said Malaysia needs to be alert because Oman has advantages in terms of fitness and physical levels because the league competition there is currently underway, while almost all of the country’s players are just undergoing pre-season training to face the Malaysian League, which starts this May.
Malaysia now leads the Group D rivals with six points, followed by Oman and Kyrgyzstan, who share three points in second and third place, while Taiwan is eliminated without any points with four remaining matches.
Malaysia will face Nepal in a warm-up match scheduled behind closed doors at Wisma FAM on 15 March before leaving for Muscat on 17 March.
Credit Photo : FAM
