Malaysia has narrowed the gap with Vietnam on the FIFA rankings.
The foreign players were recently "hotly" naturalized by the Johor Darul Ta'zim Club, and are believed to have Malaysian roots to speed up the process, in order to be able to join the Malaysian national team in time. Thanks to that, they won against the Vietnamese team with a score of 4-0 in the third qualifying round of the 2027 Asian Cup on June 10.
Naturalized players from Johor Darul Ta'zim Club helped the Malaysian team defeat the Vietnamese team with a score of 4-0.
Photo: Ngoc Linh
This victory gives the Malaysian team an advantage in qualifying for the 2027 Asian Cup finals, and also boosts their ranking in the FIFA rankings announced on July 10, rising 6 places to 125th in the world .
This is the best position of the Malaysian team in many years. They have also significantly narrowed the gap compared to the position of the Vietnamese team since the ranking in April, when they were only 12 places lower than 22 places.
"The presence of naturalized players from Johor Darul Ta'zim Club has strengthened the national team, and of course there are also excellent local players that this team possesses. Coach Peter Cklamovski has all the conditions to monitor and understand the progress of these players. That is very beneficial for the development of the Malaysian team," Mr. Yusoff Mahadi, Vice President of the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), told reporters on July 11.
Johor Darul Ta'zim is the team that is dominating the Malaysian Super League with 11 consecutive championships. Recently, they recruited 4 naturalized players and are believed to have Malaysian roots, including midfielder Nacho Mendez, striker Joao Figueiredo, defender Jon Irazabal and midfielder Hector Hevel to prepare for the 2025 - 2026 season.
Brazilian-born player Joao Figueiredo, after naturalizing and playing for the Malaysian national team, joined
Johor Darul Ta'zim Club
Photo: Ngoc Linh
Figueiredo, Irazabal and Hevel were all in the starting lineup when Harimau Malaya defeated Vietnam 4-0 at Bukit Jalil. These players were later questioned about their Malaysian ancestry, creating a fierce debate not only in this country but also in many other places in Southeast Asia.
So far, FIFA and AFC (Confederation of Asian and International Football Associations) have not requested any review on this issue. Therefore, FAM continues to move forward and take full advantage of the naturalization policy from Johor Darul Ta'zim Club to utilize these players into the national team to increase its strength.
"From a national team perspective, we must make the most of this advantage. Johor Darul Ta'zim's preparation is obviously very good, and the fact that they have so many talented and skillful players in the same club, has given us a solid foundation to build a strong Harimau Malaya," Mr. Yusoff Mahadi emphasized.
Coach Peter Cklamovski (middle) made a shocking statement regarding the naturalized Malaysian player.
Photo: Ngoc Linh
Meanwhile, when asked about the concentration of all the best players from local, naturalized, native and foreign players in Johor Darul Ta'zim, it is helping this team to be much stronger than all other clubs in Malaysia and will create a huge difference.
Mr. Yusoff Mahadi acknowledged this fact, but at the same time said that this is only beneficial for the Malaysian team. In particular, it will help FAM achieve the "hot" goals that are being set, such as continuing to surpass the Vietnamese team (the second leg match in March 2026) to get a ticket to the 2027 Asian Cup and a position on the FIFA rankings in the near future. Next is aiming for the huge ambition of participating in the 2030 World Cup.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/sep-fam-uu-ai-clb-johor-darul-tazim-185250712124700405.htm
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