Faisal Halim eager to repay coach’s trust in upcoming international fixtures after second Harimau Malaya call-up

JOHOR BAHRU — National player, Faisal Halim, is determined to repay the trust of head coach Peter Cklamovski by helping Harimau Malaya achieve success if given an opportunity to join the squad for upcoming matches.

According to Faisal, he is 100 per cent ready and will give his best, acting as a morale booster for the team to play with more spirit and achieve encouraging results.

The Selangor FC winger said this is the second call-up from the Australian-born head coach, and he feels it was time for him to regain what he had missed previously.

“Alhamdulillah...I received another call from coach (Cklamovski) and I am determined to rediscover my previous rhythm of play... in fact, now I am more enthusiastic and want to forget the dark moments that happened.

“However, I leave it to the coach... if he (Cklamovski) feels I’m not ready, I have no problem, but as a player, I will give my best,” he told reporters at a press conference for the Tier 1 international friendly against Cape Verde and the second Group F match of the 2026/2027 Asia Cup Qualifiers at the National Stadium, here, today.

Faisal added that the match on May 29 is also an important one for the squad as preparation to face Vietnam, a team ranked higher than the national team, and demands a better performance.

“That’s just ranking, we will display quality performance on the field later, we will be able to gauge the team’s performance whether we need to improve or if we are ready enough to face Vietnam,” he said.