Expert makes surprising statement about Malaysia's massive naturalization recruitment

The Malaysian team completely “transformed” when winning 4-0 against the Vietnamese team in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. That was the match in which the “Tigers” fielded 9 naturalized players.

Chuyên gia tuyên bố bất ngờ về việc tuyển Malaysia nhập tịch ồ ạt - 1 — Football legend Datuk Jamal Nasir Ismail believes the national team should naturalize as many players as possible (Photo: SH Online)

Many people are concerned that Malaysian football will not be able to develop youth football if the national team massively naturalizes players. However, expert Datuk Jamal Nasir Ismail believes that the Malaysian team needs to naturalize as many players as possible to serve the ambition of winning a ticket to the 2030 World Cup.

Football legend Datuk Jamal Nasir Ismail said: “I don’t see any problem if we add more naturalised players. This is for the benefit of national football. We don’t just want to compete in Asia but also have ambitions to qualify for the World Cup.

Malaysia's chances of qualifying for the 2027 Asian Cup are bright. Now, we need to plan to compete for a 2030 World Cup ticket.

We need to face reality and need to naturalize as many players as possible to be able to compete with strong teams like Saudi Arabia, Australia, Japan, and South Korea. Only by reaching the level of these teams can Malaysia's chances of participating in the World Cup become brighter.

After all, even the naturalized players representing Malaysia have Malaysian blood. So there is nothing wrong with us trusting them.”

Malaysia is actively looking for players with roots in South America and Europe. They have recently naturalized and debuted a series of players such as Gabriel Palmero, Hector Hevel, Jon Irazabal, Joao Figueiredo, Rodrigo Holgado, Imanol Machuca and Facundo Garces.

Chuyên gia tuyên bố bất ngờ về việc tuyển Malaysia nhập tịch ồ ạt - 2 — He believes that if the Malaysian team wants to participate in the World Cup, they should take advantage of naturalized players (Photo: BH Online).

There are rumors that some “A-list” players will appear in the Malaysian squad in the near future. According to Metro (Malaysia), the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has a list of 37 players of mixed Malaysian and Argentine blood. They will screen and contact suitable names in the near future.

Expert Datuk Jamal Nasir Ismail believes that Malaysian native players are not good enough to help the national team reach the top level. He added: “In the next few years, we need to actively train young players. Local players will definitely want to follow in the footsteps of naturalized players. This will create momentum for Malaysian football to make a breakthrough.”