PETALING JAYA: Three players could not join up with the national football team for the centralised training camp being conducted by head coach Kim Pan Gon in preparation for the 2023 Merdeka Tournament.
Pan Gon said the trio, Stuart John Wilkin, Nooa Hamzah Laine and Dion-Johan Cools, would check in either on Monday (Oct 9) or Tuesday (Oct 10).
He said Nooa and Dion have club commitments while Stuart is undergoing follow-up treatment for a hamstring injury before resuming training.
“I think two players (Nooa and Dion) will arrive around Monday night. We have here now 23 players, so I think (we have) enough players in training for the next few days. Only Stuart is a bit tired, his hamstring... So, I think we can start training for everybody maybe on Monday or Tuesday,” he said.
He said this on the first day of the training camp, ahead of the 2023 Merdeka Tournament, which kicks off on Oct 13 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
In the Merdeka Tournament, the Harimau Malaya will take on India while Palestine will square off with Tajikistan on Oct 13. The winners will meet in the final and the losers will clash in the third-placing match on Oct 17.
Meanwhile, the South Korean coach said he would focus on sharpening the team’s attack to give them more bite in the Merdeka Tournament, adding that: “... another thing today (is that) we should start (working on our) tactical approach”. - Bernama