The last time Malaysia won the AFF Cup was 15 years ago. The last time they played in the regional final was also 7 years ago. While Indonesia rose strongly with a massive naturalization policy, Vietnam and Thailand maintained a fairly stable performance, Malaysia stagnated, if not regressed. In the 2024 AFF Cup, they were eliminated in the group stage after disappointing draws against Cambodia and Singapore (teams that were considered weaker).
Hector Hevel (10) is the new mainstay of the Malaysian team.
PHOTO: FAM
That is why the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) had to take action. First, they signed a contract with head coach Peter Cklamovski, who is knowledgeable about Asian football after working in Japan. Next, FAM actively sought out foreign players of Malaysian origin to naturalize and improve the quality of the team. At the FIFA Days training session last March, there were 3 newly naturalized players of Dutch and Spanish origin: midfielder Hector Hevel, defender Gabriel Palermo and goalkeeper Christian Amat. In addition, FAM continued to use naturalized players of non-Malaysian origin such as Endrick, Paulo Josue (Brazilian origin), Romel Morales (Colombian origin) and Mohamadou Sumareh (Gambian origin).
FAM's changes were initially successful. In the match against Nepal, the Malaysian team almost completely dominated and won 2-0. The performance of the students made coach Cklamovski satisfied: "I am proud of the players. We created a lot of opportunities, should have won by more. But the good thing is that we scored 2 goals and kept a clean sheet."
Compared to the Malaysian team under Korean coach Kim Pan-gon or interim coach Pau Marti, Malaysia currently has some differences. Coach Mohd Yazli Yahya, who is leading the Malaysian University team to compete in the 2025 International Youth Football Tournament - THACO Cup, shared: "Under coach Kim Pan-gon, the Malaysian team plays a high-intensity football and the players are forced to move constantly. Meanwhile, coach Cklamovski prefers to use short balls, mainly attacking the wings to take advantage of the speed and technique of the wingers. In this style of play, the newly naturalized player Hevel will be an important link. I believe that the upcoming confrontation between Malaysia and Vietnam will be very balanced. The winning team will be the team that takes advantage of the opponent's mistakes better."
On June 10, the Vietnamese team will visit Malaysia in a match that will determine the top spot in Group F of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers. When facing a team that is making positive changes, under the pressure of the "fire pan" Bukit Jalil, coach Kim Sang-sik and his team need to be careful.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lan-gio-moi-o-doi-tuyen-malaysia-viet-nam-hay-that-su-can-trong-185250327202327098.htm
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