Malaysia squad confirmed for Busan International Beach Soccer

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) finalised today the 10-man squad for the 2nd Busan International Beach Soccer tournament, which will take place on September 16 and 17.

After four days of centralised training, the players who did not make the cut were Khairul Azizi Norwawi, Khairul Nizam Mohamad, Rozairi Ahmad, Hasrol Ali and Jamil Daud.

The national team, who will face Busan Transportation Corporation and Songdo Baby FS in Group D, are one of the six overseas teams invited for the tournament.

The other five are PTU (Thailand), Awesome Club (China), BSC (Jepun), Manila All-Star (Filipina) and Vietnam FC (Vietnam).

Malaysia's participation marks yet another step in the national body's attempt to revitalise the sport, which was often ignored in the past, after a futsal and beach soccer committee was formed earlier this year.

"The FAM and the futsal and beach soccer committee take the sport seriously," said assistant coach Saiful.

"We would like to organise centralised training every month and, at the same time, look for new talent for international tournaments.

"This year we have been invited to two tournaments, which is a great progress."

The team will be hoping for a better performance than at the 2017 AFC Beach Soccer Championship in March when they crashed out in the group stage, winning just one out of four games.

However, they will be without head coach Ismail Zakaria due to him undergoing the AFC 'C' Coaching Certificate Course, leaving Saiful in charge throughout the competition.

They will depart for South Korea on September 15.