Farizal started his Malaysia career back in 2009 and after 10 years, he is now one of senior statesmen in the team and for the matches against Nepal and Timor Leste, he will be leading from the front. The goalkeeper was handed the captain's armband in Zaquan's absence and it will be the first time he has held it since making his international bow.
These days it is not unusual to see the keeper becoming the captain as was shown by Manuel Neuer captaining Germany back in 2016. On the odd occasions in the past, Khairul Fahmi Che Mat also had the honour of leading out Malaysia in matches, as the captain.