Malaysia coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee has called up a host of familiar faces, majority of whom featured in the country's abysmal 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup qualifier against North Korea on March 28.
Farizal Harun, Khair Jones, Afif Amiruddin, Nasir Basharuddin and Kedah anchorman Akram Mahinan were the five new faces included in Ong's 23-man squad, who are penciled in for a March 22 friendly against Philippines.
The national coach's selection certainly raised eyebrows after he chose to bank on majority of the men who floundered in Yangon, crashing out of the third AFF Cup group stage for only the third time in their history.
The inclusion of defenders Khair Jones and Ronny Harun certainly posed a big question mark, especially after the duo are part of the Melaka United and Sarawak side who have collectively shipped in 26 goals after eight matches.
Pahang and Felda United forwards Ashaari Shamsudin and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha were also excluded despite scoring three goals each in the league so far.
But regardless of the personnel selected, Malaysia are hard pressed to make an encouraging start to the year, beginning with the crunch qualifier against North Korea which has intensified following strained relationship between both nation's governments.
The Asian Football Confederation will most likely confirm by Friday if the game will go ahead in Pyongyang or a neutral ground, after the Malaysian government deemed travelling to the Republic a safety risk.
This comes after Malaysia expelled North Korea's ambassador with a 48-hour notice. The country responded by barring Malaysians from leaving the Republic.
The escalating tension between both governments comes after the death of Kim Jong-Nam, the half-brother of the North Korea leader Kim Jong-Un at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13.
Ong's preparation will, however, continue as usual as 21 players are expected to turn up at the Football Association of Malaysia headquarters on March 13 for centralised training.
The Johor Darul Ta'zim and Felda players, meanwhile, will report two days later after their AFC Cup commitments.
Besides North Korea, Malaysia also have Lebanon and Hong Kong in Group B of the third-round qualifiers for the 2019 Asian Cup in United Arab Emirates.
Malaysia 23-man squad to play Philippines and North Korea: Hafizul Hakim, Shahrom Kalam, Nazirul Naim, Shahrul Saad, Nasir Basharuddin, Zaquan Adha, Khairul Helmi, Rizal Ghazali, Baddrol Bakhtiar, Akram Mahinan, Syazwan Zainon, Fadhli Shas, Ahmad Hazwan Bakri, Farizal Harun, Hadin Azman, Matthew Davies, Afif Amiruddin, Khairul Azhan Khalid, S. Veenod, Khair Jones, Amri Yahyah, Safee Sali, Ronny Harun