Malaysian newspaper wants home team to break 11-year streak of not winning against Vietnam

Before the ball rolls at Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) at 8:00 p.m. tonight (June 10), Malaysia's New Straits Times newspaper reported: "The naturalized players of coach Peter Cklamovski (Australian of Macedonian origin) are preparing to attack the Vietnamese team."

Báo Malaysia muốn đội nhà phá dớp 11 năm không thắng tuyển Việt Nam - 1 — The Malaysian team has high hopes for naturalized players (Photo: FAM).

“Harimau Malaya will look to break an 11-year winless streak against Vietnam. Malaysia and Vietnam will clash tonight in Group F of the 2027 Asian Cup third qualifying round.

Before this match, Malaysia had lost 7 out of 8 matches against Vietnam since the 2014 AFF Cup. Malaysia only drew one match in this series of 8 matches,” New Straits Times added.

To change the result of the match against the Vietnamese team, Malaysia is placing its hopes on the large number of naturalized players that the team has just acquired.

“Many of Malaysia’s new naturalized players come from Europe and South America, aiming to tip the balance between the two sides in Malaysia’s favour,” commented Malaysia’s leading English-language daily New Straits Times.

“Among the new faces, the most notable are the Argentines Imanol Machuca, Rodrigo Holgado and Facundo Garces, and the Brazilians Joao Figueiredo and Jon Irazabal.

Báo Malaysia muốn đội nhà phá dớp 11 năm không thắng tuyển Việt Nam - 2 — The Vietnamese team is very difficult to defeat (Photo: Manh Quan).

All of them have trained with the Malaysian team. These training sessions were closed. Information about them and their recent match with Cape Verde was also kept secret,” the New Straits Times added.

Meanwhile, Malaysia’s The Star newspaper commented more cautiously: “Malaysia has added more players of foreign origin. However, this only increases the challenge for coach Kim Sang Sik of the Vietnamese team, and does not guarantee victory for Malaysia.”

“For the Korean coach, the current Malaysian squad is a mystery, but he will definitely study more about the new players on the Harimau Malaya side,” are still the lines written in The Star newspaper.

The newspaper also pointed out the strengths of the team under coach Kim Sang Sik: “The Golden Stars (the nickname of the Vietnamese team) are following a very tight schedule. Their preparation time is less than Malaysia’s, they also have some injuries, but coach Kim Sang Sik is still looking for solutions.”

The Star newspaper quoted the Korean coach who is leading the Vietnamese team: “The fact that Malaysia has more foreign-born players makes it more difficult for us to analyze them. However, the Vietnamese team will continue to monitor the opponent and find suitable solutions.”