No time to rest: Goalkeeper Suhaimi Husin at the national training camp. — FAM
PETALING JAYA: Goalkeeper Suhaimi Husin will not put the brakes down although the Ramadan month begins today.
In fact, the 29-year-old hopes to step up and catch the eyes of national coach Kim Pan-gon for a chance to start in a closed-door friendly match against Nepal on Friday.
The 1.84m-tall player is one of the 33 players selected for the World Cup 2026-Asian Cup 2027 second-round qualifiers against Oman on March 21 in Muscat and March 26 in Bukit Jalil.
Suhaimi, Azri Ghani and Sikh Izhan Nazrel Sikh Azman are the goalies who have started rigorous training under the tutelage of goalkeeper coach Cho Jun-ho for the matches ahead while national No. 1 keeper Ahmad Syihan Hazmi will only arrive at the national camp on Friday.
While the training time has been changed from evening to night to accommodate all those who would be fasting, Suhaimi said he would not change his approach in training.
“This is not a challenge as we had always trained despite the fasting month almost every season,” said Suhaimi.
“When I played for Terengganu last season, we played and trained, so it is something that we are used to. It will not affect our performances.”
Suhaimi hopes to justify the call for national duty.
“First of all, I want to thank coach Kim, because this is the second time that I have been called up. I am still new, so there’s a lot to learn under the coaching staff, which I have been doing these past few days,” he said.
“It is the wish of any goalkeeper to be the No. 1 in any team but it all depends on the coach and what plans he has figured out.
“I know Syihan is the national No. 1 right now and he deserves the spot thanks to his performance over the years.
“Whether it is Syihan or me, I just have to be ready and show what I am capable of.
“I’ve been training with Terengganu for almost a month now and I can say, in terms of match fitness, I am at 50% but it will increase, now that I am with the national team.”
Suhaimi was one of the standout goalkeepers in the Malaysia League last year.
He played 26 games in all domestic competitions and made a total of 69 saves.
