Malaysia brought Sergio Aguero to the AFF Cup 2022

Sergio Aguero - the same name as the former Man City and Argentina striker - is 28 years old this year, playing a midfielder. He grew up at the River Plate training academy. In 2015, Aguero went to Hungary to play for Tatabanya, before sticking with Malaysian football since 2017, through many clubs such as Melaka United, Selangor, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Sri Pahang and Perak. He was the only naturalized foreign soldier when head coach Kim Pan-gon closed the list of 23 people attending the AFF Cup 2022.

Besides Aguero, head coach Kim Pan-gon also called four other Malaysian-born players, including midfielders Stuart Wilkin (age 24), Brendan Gan (Australia - 34 years old) and strikers Darren Lok (age 34). Anh - 31 years old), Lee Tuck (England - 34 years old).

With championship ambition, Malaysia changed blood strongly, retaining only 6 players who played in the AFF Cup 2021. This number includes goalkeeper Kalamullah Al-Hafiz, defenders Quentin Cheng and Dominic Tan, midfielder Mukhairi Ajmal, money. Safawi Rasid and Faisal Halim. The rest were summoned by coach Kim to attend the tournament for the first time.

Of the 23 Malaysian players attending the AFF Cup 2022, 15 are under the age of 27, of which eight are from the U23 age group. Coach Kim Pan-gon believes in new faces, while ignoring naturalized players who have been called up to the national team such as Kosovo-born midfielder Liridon Krasniqi, Gambian-born striker Mohamadou Sumareh or Brazilian-born striker Guilherme de Paula . In addition, midfielder Dion Cools is playing in the Czech Republic for Jablonec, young star Luqman Hakim playing for Belgium's K.V Kortrijk is also eliminated, despite being on the initial focus list.

However, this list is absent from the players of Johor Darul Tazim - the strongest club in Malaysia with 9 consecutive national championships from 2014 to now. After many conflicts with the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), they did not accept to release troops for the national team on this occasion because the AFF Cup is not in the FIFA Days calendar. Therefore, many Malaysian players who are familiar with Johor Darul Tazim such as defenders Shahrul Saad, Matthew Davies, Corbin-Ong, midfielder Syamer Kutty Abba, striker Syafiq Ahmad, Akhyar Rashid are not present.

Under coach Kim Pan-gon, Malaysia is achieving very positive results. They won Cambodia 4-0 and Maldives 3-0, respectively, in this month's friendly. 23-year-old captain Faisal Halim impressed when contributing three goals. Before that, Malaysia also beat Thailand after a penalty shootout in the King's Cup in September, but at that time, they still had quality players playing for Johor Darul Tazim.

After the win against Maldives, coach Kim Pan-gon assessed: "I demand physical strength and precision from the players. They should not lose the ball early. We will analyze the matches and find the necessary points. fix". Mr. Kim affirmed that the Malaysian team is fighting hard and is very serious with the task in the AFF Cup 2022.

Malaysia is in Group B with Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos and Singapore. In the AFF Cup 2021, under coach Tan Cheng Hoe, Malaysia lost 0-3 to Vietnam.

Malaysia kicked off its first match on December 21, meeting Myanmar on a neutral field due to the unstable political situation in this country. Malaysia won the AFF Cup 2010 under coach Rajagobal, is the fourth team with Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam to have won this tournament.

- Thủ môn (3): Kalamullah Al-Hafiz (Kedah), Syihan Hazmi (Negeri Sembilan), Rahadiazli Rahalim (Terengganu)

- Hậu lại (6): Azam Azmi (Terengganu), Quentin Cheng, Sharul Nazeem, Fazly Mazlan (Selangor), Khuzaimi Piee (Nigeri Sembilan), Dominic Tan (Sabah)

- Tiền hại (9): Brendan Gan, Mukhairi Ajmal, Aliff Haiqal, Hakim Hassan (Selangor), Sergio Aguero, David Rowley (Sri Pahang), Stuart Wilkin (Sabah), Ruventhiran Vengadesan (Petaling Jaya City), Shamie Iszuan (Sarawak) United)

- Tiền dạo (5): Safawi Rasid (Ratchaburi), Darren Lok (Sabah), Lee Tuck (Sri Pahang), Faisal Halim (Terengganu), Haqimi Azim (Kuala Lumpur City).