With the September international break looming over the horizon, several Southeast Asian national teams are gearing up for matches played during the period.
As Southeast Asia’s sole representative in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Indonesia have announced a 26-man squad for matches against Saudi Arabia (September 5th) and Australia (September 10th).
Most of Shin Tae-yong’s regulars are present in the squad, such as Asnawi Mangkualam, Ernando Ari, Pratama Arhan, Marselino Ferdinan, Justin Hubner, Rafael Struick, and Nathan Tjoe-A-On to name a few, but the most notable inclusion within the squad is FC Dallas goalkeeper Maarten Paes, who had recently had his Indonesian citizenship being greenlit.
However, Indonesia will be without the services of the suspended Jordi Amat and the injured Sayuri brothers, Yakob and Yance, as well as Marc Klok, who is also sidelined with an injury.
Meanwhile, both Thailand and Vietnam are set to lock horns in the 2024 LPBank Cup in Hanoi, with Vietnam taking on Russia on September 5th and Thailand on September 10th, while the Changsuek, other than taking on Vietnam, will take on Russia on September 7th.
Masatada Ishii in the Thailand camp was able to welcome Jonathan Khemdee into the fold after the Ratchaburi FC defender had earlier went back on his decision to retire from national team duty, although he will be missing the services of both Supachok Sarachat and Supachai Chaided, both of whom are out injured. The likes of Teerasil Dangda and Chanathip Songkrasin were also excluded from Thailand’s LPBank Cup squad.
Kim Sang-sik in the Vietnam camp was able to name a strong squad for the LPBank Cup, with the likes of Nguyen Tien Linh, Nguyen Quang Hai, Do Hung Dung, and Filip Nguyen present. However, the biggest surprises were the presence of Dang Van Lam and Dinh Thanh Binh, with the two having sensationally left the V.League 1 behind for ambitious V.League 2 side LPBank Ho Chi Minh City.
Like Thailand and Vietnam, both Malaysia and the Philippines will be involved in a tournament during the September international break, the 2024 Merdeka Tournament in Kuala Lumpur, to be exact.
Under the stewardship of interim head coach Pau Marti, Malaysia were able to call upon their best squad, which included the likes of Arif Aiman, Safawi Rashid, and Dion Cools, while the Philippines, also underneath the internship care of Norman Fegidero, enlisted the likes of Neil Etheridge, Christian Rontini, Kevin Ray Mendoza, and Patrick Reichelt for the tournament, as well as giving potential national team debuts to Kristofer Reyes, Matthiew Baldisimo, Jermiah Borlongan, Uriel Dalapo, and Bjorn Martin Kristensen.
Cambodia were also in action in the September international break, taking on Sri Lanka in a two-legged play-off for a spot in the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers on September 5th and 10th. The likes of Chan Vathanaka was omitted from Felix Dalmas’ squad, however the Argentine did gave three recently-naturalized players a spot in his team – Japanese-born duo Yudai Ogawa and Hikaru Mizuno as well as South African-born Mohammad Khan.
Last but not least, Singapore took the opportunity that the international break gave to them to hold a centralized training camp, with the likes of Irfan Fandi, Hariss Harun, Jacob Mahler, Safuwan Baharudin and Izwan Mahbud participating, while head coach Tsutomo Ogura also invited Cardiff City defender Perry Ng, who is of Singaporean descent, and Japanese winger Kyoga Nakamura – a long-serving player of Singapore Premier League powerhouses Tampines Rovers – into the training camp, with the hopes that the two would be naturalized into full-fledged Singapore residents someday.