KUALA LUMPUR, National young centre back Muhammad Safwan Mazlan admitted that he still needs to improve the quality of his game even though he is said to have excelled in the last two matches of Harimau Malaya against Kyrgyzstan and Taiwan recently.

Muhammad Safwan said he will continue to work hard while aiming to perform better in the 2024 ASEAN Championship campaign, formerly known as the ASEAN Football Federation Cup (AFF), starting at the end of November.

According to the young Terengganu FC player who made his international debut when Malaysia drew 1-1 against Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek last week, he has also not faced any difficulty in understanding the wishes of head coach Kim Pan Gon so far.

“For me it’s not 100 per cent I played well tonight (last night), maybe for the AFF Cup if given the chance to play maybe I’ll give my best again.

“Alhamdulillah I can do what the coach tells me, everything is fine for me but there may be mistakes that need to be corrected for me to move forward,” said the 22-yea
r-old player when met after Malaysia beat Taiwan 3-1 at the National Stadium. Bukit Jalil is here.

In the clash with Taiwan in the last action of Group D of the second round of the 2026 World Cup/2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers, Muhammad Safwan was once again trusted to partner with Dominic Tan in the central defence in the Harimau Malaya starting line-up.

Muhammad Safwan felt that the opportunity given by Pan Gon injected his confidence as a young player.

“Because it’s the first time I’ve been promoted to the senior team, maybe (after this) with the support of my family and supporters, maybe I’ll be further ahead,” added the player who once wore the jersey of the national Under-23 (U-23) squad.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency