Malaysia U-23 head coach Ong Kim Swee has called up Kedah duo Baddrol Bakhtiar and Rizal Ghazali, and Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) defender Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak as overage players in his 24-man preliminary squad for the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.

Of the remaining 21 players, only Syafiq Ahmad (JDT), Faisal Abdul Halim (Pahang), Rodney Celvin Akwensivie (PKNS) and Khatul Anuar Jalil (Kuala Lumpur) were not part of Malaysia's historic achievement of reaching the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship quarter-finals.

He has also named six players on standby, namely Adib Zainudin (JDT II), Akhyar Rashid (Kedah), Kogileswaran Raj (Pahang), Shahrul Saad (Perak), Evan Wensley Wenceslaus (Sabah) and Syahmi Safari (Selangor).

Malaysia are in Group E alongside defending champions South Korea, Kyrgyzstan and Bahrain at the Games, which will kick off on August 14.



"After they report in for duty on July 30, we will depart for Changzhou, China, on August 2 to play a friendly match against China U-23 on August 5 and return on August 6," Ong said.

"Then we will continue the training camp at Wisma FAM and have another friendly match with Saudi Arabia U-23 in Kuala Lumpur on August 9.

"If we follow the current 2018 Asian Games schedule, we will go to Indonesia on August 12 ahead of the first match on August 14.

"The 24 players picked by me are based on their performances in the Super League and Premier League and during the previous U-23 national training camp as well as the performances of the players called up to the senior team by Tan Cheng Hoe.

"For the overage players, I see Baddrol as a versatile player and being able to play in various positions, Aidil as someone with experience and leadership to lead the defence, and Rizal can play as a right back or a right wing and is an experienced player."

The full preliminary squad is as follows:

#NameAgeTeam
1Haziq Nadzli20Johor Darul Ta’zim
2Dominic Tan21Johor Darul Ta’zim
3Syamer Kutty Abba21Johor Darul Ta’zim
4Safawi Rasid21Johor Darul Ta’zim
5Adam Nor Azlin22Johor Darul Ta’zim
6Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak31Johor Darul Ta’zim
7Syafiq Ahmad23Johor Darul Ta’zim
8Hadi Fayyadh Abdul Razak18Johor Darul Ta’zim II
9Baddrol Bakhtiar30Kedah
10Rizal Ghazali26Kedah
11Ifwat Akmal Chek Kassim22Kedah
12Matthew Davies23Pahang
13Nor Azam Abdul Azih23Pahang
14Faisal Abdul Halim20Pahang
15Irfan Zakaria23Kuala Lumpur
16Syazwan Andik Ishak22Kuala Lumpur
17Khatul Anuar Jalil21Kuala Lumpur
18Jafri Firdaus Chew21PKNS
19Rodney Celvin Akwensivie22PKNS
20Danial Amier Norhisham21Felda United
21Nik Akif Syahiran Nik Mat19Kelantan
22N, Thanabalan23Negeri Sembilan
23Syazwan Zaipol Bahari23Perak
24Tommy Mawat Bada22PJ Rangers