The name that many fans were talking about earlier was missing.
The United States-based player, Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal, who became the talk of the Malaysian football fraternity for the Manila Sea Games, is now a doubt.
He was not on the list when national under-23 coach Ong Kim Swee announced his preliminary 28-man squad for the Sea Games.
In September, Timesport reported that Wan Kuzain, 21, who plays as a midfielder for Sporting Kansas City, has agreed to don Harimau Malaya colours.
However, Kim Swee, who is on his fifth Sea Games mission, denied claims that FAM are not interested in the American professional.
“I have three stages of players coming in. The first batch is those who aren’t involved in anything. In the next five days, after the AFC Under-19 qualifiers have finished, we will call a few more. The last batch will be on Nov 20 and those are the ones involved in the national senior squad.
“Wan Kuzain is still pending. I am not saying he will or won’t (join the team) but there are still things that need to be sorted out. There are a few documents and other matters too. If things go smoothly, he will definitely be representing us but I don’t want to put him in a difficult position.”
From the 28 players, 23 will report for centralised training on Monday while the remaining five will join on Nov 13 after the AFC Under-19 qualifiers in Phnom Penh.
The five players are Luqman Hakim Shamsudin, Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar, Muhamad Umar Hakeem Suhar Rezwan, Muhamad Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi and Muhammad Azam Azmi Murah.