Malaysia introduces 2 naturalized players, pays special attention to Vietnam team

Malaysia naturalizes to increase strength to confront Vietnam team

The Malaysian national team has officially added midfielder Hector Havel, 28 years old, a Dutchman of Malaysian descent, currently playing for Portimonense Club (Portugal), and left-back Gabriel Palmero (a Spanishman of Malaysian descent). They are waiting to complete the naturalization of another Brazilian player, striker Bergson da Silva, in June this year, to strengthen their strength before the decisive match with the Vietnamese team in Group F in the 3rd qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup.

Vietnam team before the match against Laos, but will not forget to keep an eye on key opponent Malaysia

Photo: Ngoc Linh

"We hope that these naturalized players will be treated fairly in the national team. When they wear the Malaysian national team jersey, they are Malaysians and fighting for the country's colours," said Malaysia team captain, defender Matthew Davies, a player of Australian descent.

He also called on Malaysian fans: "Let's look at every player in the team equally, without looking at their origin, whether they are naturalized players, players with roots or local players. Everyone is the same. We are all evaluated at the same level, based on our achievements. The choice is the coach's decision."

The reason Matthew Davies had to speak up was because there was public opinion that the Malaysian team was weakening and was afraid of the decisive matches with the Vietnamese team to compete for a place in the 2027 Asian Cup finals, so they rushed back to the policy of naturalizing players.

The Malaysian football player naturalization policy took place before Indonesia did. But so far, this policy is considered unsuccessful. Because the Malaysian team has not achieved any significant results in regional tournaments in recent years, as well as in the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers.

Coach Kim Sang-sik of the Vietnamese team focuses on the match against Laos, then considers the opponent Malaysia.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

"The Vietnamese team seems to have slowed down recently. But they just won the 2024 AFF Cup. That is always a tough opponent, even though there are times when they are out of form or missing some top stars.

However, not only the Vietnamese team, if the Malaysian team is really serious about the goal of winning a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup, they need to pay attention to the two remaining opponents in the same group, Nepal and Laos. There is no room for subjectivity in matches with these opponents.

The Malaysian team, with new additions of naturalized players, needs to prove their worth in the match against Nepal (at 9pm on March 25). Remember, the Nepal team ranked 175th in the world just beat the Singapore team 1-0," Malaysian newspaper, New Straits Times , said.

This is also the debut match of the new coach of the Malaysian team, Mr. Peter Cklamovski. The results and performance of Harimau Malaya will be the yardstick to evaluate the most important meeting in the third round of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, which is the match against the Vietnamese team in June, the New Straits Times emphasized.

In the 3rd qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup, in the opening match of Group F, Malaysia will meet Nepal at 9:00 p.m. on March 25 at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium. Meanwhile, Vietnam will host Laos at 7:30 p.m. on the same day at Binh Duong Stadium. Thailand will meet Sri Lanka in Group D at 7:30 p.m. on the same day at Rajamangala Stadium.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/malaysia-ra-mat-2-cau-thu-nhap-tich-quan-tam-dac-biet-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-18525032509360628.htm