Kalamullah eyes no. 1 jersey after blanking Cambodia in debut

PETALING JAYA, Dec 12 (Bernama) -- Having made a brilliant start to his international career, national goalkeeper Kalamullah Al-Hafiz is bent on making the number one jersey his own.

But the 27-year-old Kedah Darul Aman FC custodian, who kept a clean sheet on his debut in the Harimau Malaya’s 4-0 thumping of Cambodia in a friendly on Friday (Dec 9), knows that to achieve his aim, he will have to put in the hard yards and prove his mettle.

“The clean sheet and big win on my debut have inspired me to continue to be committed to doing my best so that (Harimau Malaya head coach) Kim Pan Gon will trust me in goal. There is still room for improvement in my game, especially in terms of staying cool and remaining focused during matches.

“It won’t be easy though to make the number one jersey my own as I have to deal with the likes of Ahmad Syihan Hazmi, Rahadiazli Rahalim dan Muhammad Azri Ghani, who are good in their own way. So, I will need to prove my capability to the coaches,” he said when met during the training session at Wisma FAM here today.

He, however, admitted to being nervous when tasked with manning the posts for the country for the first time in the Tier 1 international friendly against Cambodia following the absence of regular Farizal Marlias.

Kalamullah added that he managed to overcome his nerves thanks to the solid support he received from his teammates.

Farizal was among the 12 players who could not join the national centralised training camp this time due to unforeseen circumstances.

Meanwhile, young defender Muhammad Azam Azmi Murad, 21, hopes the team will be able to maintain their winning momentum when they take on the Maldives in their second Tier1 international friendly (at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium in Cheras) on Wednesday (Dec 14).

“All the players performed very well (against Cambodia)… we all communicated well too. Insya-Allah we can keep another clean sheet (against the Maldives).

“This is the second time I’ve received the national call-up. This time I have a better understanding of the way the coaches want us to play,” he said.

The Harimau Malaya are set to kick off their Group B campaign in the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Cup by travelling to Yangon to take on Myanmar on Dec 21, followed by matches against Laos at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil (Dec 24), Vietnam in Hanoi (Dec 27) and Singapore in Bukit Jalil (Jan 3).

Malaysia, who emerged as champions in 2010 and finished as runners-up in 1996, 2014 and 2018, crashed out in the group stage of the 2020 edition in Singapore.

-- BERNAMA