KUALA LUMPUR – Winger Mohamad Faisal Abdul Halim is ready for action after being recalled to the Harimau Malaya squad for the two Tier 1 international friendlies in China next month, now that he has served out his month-long suspension in the Malaysia League (M-League).
A hugely relieved Mohamad Faisal said the support from the public, including his family members and Selangor FC teammates, played a big part in his effort to maintain his performance during the suspension period.
“I have not had time to rest since last December, so perhaps it (the suspension) is Allah’s way of granting me some time off to re-energise or (recover from) fatigue.
“I am now back and more energised. If everything goes according to plan, I will do my part as usual to help the team,” he said when met at the launch of the 2023 Merdeka Tournament today.
Although lacking game time, Mohamad Faisal, who is also known as Mickey, is confident that it won’t have a big impact on his performance.
The 25-year-old, who marked his return to action by scoring a brace in Selangor’s 11-2 thrashing of Kelantan FC in a Super League match on Friday (August 25), is determined to do even better when Malaysia takes on Syria (September 6) and China (September 9) in Chengdu.
“I have only played 45 minutes, the others may have featured in five matches (in the Super League) before that, but it’s not a problem for me. Syria and China are strong teams and we will have a fight on our hands, but I intend to do my best to see where we stand in terms of our performance and level of preparedness,” he said.
Mohamad Faisal was recently suspended from July 25 to August 23 by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)’s disciplinary committee for making an unauthorised statement to the media after a Super League match against Sabah in April.
According to the decision, he was suspended for four months (July 25 to November 21), with a three-month suspended sentence subject to good behaviour for 12 months starting from August 24. – August 31, 2023