Breaking sweat: Richard Chin going through his paces at training as his teammates look on.
PETALING JAYA: The arrival of Richard Chin has created a healthy rivalry in the Harimau Muda squad.
The English-born Malaysian has joined the national Under-23 team centralised training camp since Nov 15 to prepare for the AFC Asian Cup in April next year in Doha, Qatar, and has made an immediate impact.
Just a day after training, the 21-year-old Charlton Athletic player even joined his teammates to watch the World Cup 2026-Asian Cup 2027 qualifier between Malaysia and Kyrgyzstan on Nov 16 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
The heritage player has shown his interest to don the national colours since last year and fortunately, all his documentations had been finally cleared so that he can play for Malaysia.
Richard is now part of Juan Torres Garrido’s squad and did not take long to make a strong impression.
As a wingback, he has to compete with some of the best youngsters in the nation like Ahmad Zikri Khalili, Safwan Mazlan, Umar Hakeem Suhar Rezwan and Firdaus Ramli.
Umar sees Richard’s presence as something positive.
“Richard is new to Malaysia and he will take some time to understand the language we speak but he is a good lad. It has been nice training alongside him,” said the 21-year-old Umar.
“I didn’t know much about him but now, we have a better understanding of his personality. We are helping him to settle down here.
“We see his ability and what he can do to help the team. His experience overseas has made him more mature and we can see that character on the field. It’s different ... quite good.”
Centreback Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili is looking forward to some healthy competition within the team.
“Richard is able to give good competition and that’s a positive sign,” said the 19-year-old Ubaidullah.
The Terengganu player added that he been benefiting from Garrido’s training style, which he said is almost similar to his club.
“The tactical game is similar to my club with only some difference in the positioning of the players.
The boys can adapt to it quickly,” said Ubaidullah.
