PETALING JAYA: The transition from a junior to senior football team is the hardest but centreback Safwan Mazlan is doing just fine.
The training ahead of the last two World Cup 2026-Asian Cup 2027 second-round qualifier matches had been overwhelming but the 22-year-old Safwan, who is the youngest player in the team, had been braving through it diligently to fit in well with the Harimau Malaya set-up.
Malaysia will play Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek on Thursday and will later take on Taiwan on June 11 in Bukit Jalil
Safwan admitted that the step up to the senior team was a whole new level of difficulty.
“I struggled a lot in training because I’m young. From this training stint, I realised that I needed to build on my confidence. Mentally and physically, I’ve to continue to grow,’’ he said.
“You can’t compare the national team and the Under-23 side because the intensity and tactical levels are different.
“This is the second time I’ve been called up to the national team and the first time that I’ve been listed in the final squad.’’
Under the national Under-23 team, he had played in the AFC Asian Cup in April and the SEA Games in Cambodia last year. He was also part of the team that won the Merlion Cup.
Safwan got a taste of what it means to play at a higher level when the team coached by Kim Pan-gon played against Super League club Perak last week and did well to beat them 1-0 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
“One game is not enough in terms of giving you confidence and besides, we played against a club side, not a national team. The coach, however, has made up for the lack of competition with quality in training. And he is thorough with his planning too,” he said.
“I did okay to adapt to the coach’s ways and tactics against Perak but I know I need more to be a first eleven player.”
Safwan acknowledges that there are many more experienced defenders in the squad like Shahrul Saad, Dominic Tan and Dion Cools. For the fullback role, Pan-gon has options to choose among regulars like Matthew Davies, La’vere Corbin-Ong, Adib Abd Raop, Declan Lambert and Daniel Ting.
“We’ve players with good stature, who have competed at the higher level stages and know what it is like taking on their regional opponents.
“I’ll try to impress in the next few days, and hopefully, I will give my all to ensure the coach gives me a chance to feature for Malaysia in the qualifiers, and also get my first cap.”
