KUALA LUMPUR: Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) midfielder Natxo Insa is smiling once again.
The 38-year-old player has been included in the list of 26 players called up by national head coach Pau Marti Vicente for centralised training ahead of two Tier One friendly matches this month.
“Based on the list of players called up, Pau Marti has retained 20 out of 26 players from the squad who went to Auckland, New Zealand, for the centralised training camp last October,” the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) said in a statement.
The six new players are Insa, Haziq Nadzli (Perak), Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili (Terengganu), Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi (Selangor), Sergio Aguero (Pahang) and team captain Dion Cools who plays for Thai club Buriram United.
With the call-up, Insa has a second chance to prove himself in the national team following his disappointing performance at the 2023 Asian Cup in Doha, Qatar, early this year.
He earned two caps with the Malaysian team, playing in a friendly in March 2018 and the 0-1 loss to Bahrain in the 2023 Asian Cup group qualifiers, where his uninspired performance was criticised by fans for being unable to bring any impact to the team in midfield.
Malaysia will play Laos in PAT Stadium, Bangkok, on Nov 14 before flying to India to play against the Indian team at Gachibowli, Hyderabad, on Nov 18.
The team will be undergoing two-day training at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya from Sunday before departing for Bangkok on Tuesday. — Bernama
THE SQUAD
Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed (JDT), Matthew Davies (JDT), MuhamadFeroz Baharudin (JDT), ArifAiman Hanapi (JDT), Romel Morales (JDT), Natxo Insa (JDT), Safawi Rasid (Terengganu), Akhyar Rashid (Terengganu), Safwan Mazlan (Terengganu), Azam Azmi Murad (Terengganu), Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili (Terengganu), Nooa Laine (Selangor), Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar (Selangor), Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi (Selangor), Dominic Tan (Sabah), Daniel Ting (Sabah), Stuart Wilkin (Sabah), Azri Ab Ghani (Kuala Lumpur), Paulo Josue (Kuala Lumpur), Haqimi Azim Rosli (Kuala Lumpur), Syamer KuttyAbba (Penang), Adib Abdul Ra’op (Penang), Syafiq Ahmad (Kedah), Haziq Nadzli (Perak), Sergio Aguero (Pahang), Dion Cools (Buriram United).
