Sikh Izhan Nazrel Sikh Azman (Sikh Izhan) or more affectionately known as Koyen is the Selangor young goalkeeper who has been called to fill the GK slot of the Red Giants main team for the 2021 season.

Sikh Izhan has been involved as a football player at the tender age of five years old, after joining the Blue Star club from 2007 to 2012. He was originally played as a central defender, before being polished to play as a striker for the team.

With his towering physique, he was absorbed into the 2019 Project Squad (under the supervision of the National Football Development Program; NFDP) and being trained as a goalkeeper after being discovered by Selangor 2 goalkeeper coach, Lim Chuan Chin while playing in a tournament at the Royal Selangor Club when he was 10 years old.

The Penang origin player participated in his first major tournament, the SuperMokh Cup at the age of 12 with the 2019 Project Squad. Later, he furthers his studies at the Sekolah Sukan Malaysia Pahang (SSMP) for a year after showing excellent performance in the tournament.

Being the first generation and alumni of the Malaysian National Football Development Program (PPBN) or now known as the Mokhtar Dahari National Football Academy (AMD), he and his teammates often traveled back and forth to school from Gambang to Bukit Jalil until the AMD training center began to operate fully in 2014.

The 180cm tall player started making his name in the Malaysia B-16 team in 2015 as the team's key player. He also played a major part as the last line of defense for the team that won the 2015 Iber Cup in Spain and the SuperMokh Cup 2016.

In addition, he was also awarded the Best Goalkeeper and was listed among the Best Eleven of the 2016 Elite Cup tournament in France.

In the following years, Sikh Izhan was also called to represent the B-18 and B-19 National squad after the big success with the B-16 squad. During that time, he played in five matches and recorded two ‘clean sheets’ against Cambodia during the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) B-18, Brunei for the AFC B-19 qualifying round.

At the age of 18, his professional football career finally began when he signed a contract with the Selangor team by joining the Selangor 2 team in December 2019.

He once again met the man who paved the way for him to join the AMD squad, Coach Lim who was the goalkeeper coach for the Selangor 2 team last year. Sikh Izhan played in four Liga Premier matches and recorded a 'clean sheet' against Sarawak United at the Cheras Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, before being sidelined for a while due to injury.

"Coach Lim has given me the opportunity from the grassroots (AMD) level to finally become a professional footballer. He helped me a lot in mastering the basic techniques of being a good goalkeeper. I owe him a lot," said Sikh Izhan.

"I am grateful for the chances given and thankful for the prayers of my family. I see this season as a challenging one because I have to compete with two more experienced goalkeepers in the Malaysian Super League. I also want to take the opportunity to learn as much knowledge as possible from both of them as well as from the coaching staff," said the young lad.

"I will give healthy competition for my chance to play in the Super League. This will be a source of encouragement for myself," he added, ending his interview with Media Selangor FC.

Selangor FC wishes Sikh Izhan success for the 2021 season with the Selangor main team.

Good luck, Koyen!