KUALA LUMPUR: Selangor winger Faisal Halim is using the words of encouragement from former national football coach Kim Pan-gon to inspire him as he continues on his long journey of recovery after he fell victim to an acid attack in May.
In a special video interview by Selangor yesterday, Faisal shared that Pan-gon had relayed the message to him during the South Korean’s final days as Harimau Malaya’s head coach.
“I knew that he (Pan-gon) was leaving Malaysia, so I messaged him... I repeated what he told me previously (that he would wait for Faisal to return to action), and he said – we don’t know what lies in the future, we try to do our best, you will be the best in the future if you rise up.
“I’m holding on to those words, I’ll try to rise up and become and extraordinary player, I want to prove to Malaysia that I can’t be taken down by anything with prayers from Malaysians behind me,” he said.
Pan-gon shocked the Malaysian football scene when he announced his immediate resignation due to personal reasons in July.
To the delight of local fans, Faisal made an appearance during Selangor’s warm up session during the second leg 2024-2025 FA Cup semi-final match against Terengganu at Petaling Jaya City Stadium on Saturday.
He was listed as a reserve for the match but was not fielded in Selangor’s 4-1 victory that day, which allowed the team to advance to the final with a 6-4 aggregate.
On his motivation to make a comeback, the 26-year-old said that besides continued support from his family, the spirit shown by the entire Selangor footballing fraternity had spurred him on.
“My current situation might not be normal but I feel I’m capable of proving again and I do want to play football for Selangor or the national team, depending on how things are later on.
“What I can say is that the support from my teammates, Malaysians and the Merah Kuning fraternity is very touching, and I will continue fighting to play football because of all of you,” the 2023 Asian Cup best goal award winner said. — Bernama
