Malaysia depends on naturalized players, fans boycott: Opportunity for Vietnam team

The Malaysian team continues to receive indifference from the audience even though they play at home. For the upcoming match against Palestine at 8 p.m. on September 8 at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, only 4,197 tickets have been sold.

A harsh reality check for the Malaysian team

Football critic Pekan Ramli commented on the New Straits Times : "The Malaysian team defeated their fateful opponent Singapore 2-1 at Bukit Jalil Stadium on September 4, but also exposed a harsh truth - without naturalized players, they are just an average team in the region."

Malaysia team in the match against Vietnam team on June 10

Photo: Ngoc Linh

This fact is a harsh reality for the Malaysian team, first of all the country's fans are still indifferent, because they do not think that it is a team with true Malaysian colors with the majority of naturalized players.

The exact number was only about 22,329 fans who came to watch the match against Singapore on September 4, most of whom only bought tickets to enter the stadium at the last minute. Previously, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) announced that only 13,577 tickets were sold, while the capacity of Bukit Jalil Stadium is up to 90,000 seats.

"It seems that the fever of naturalized players has begun to subside and may gradually become saturated. It no longer creates excitement or great expectations like after the resounding 4-0 victory over the Vietnamese team last June.

Opportunities were given to some local players like Nazmi Faiz Mansor and Haziq Nadzli in the starting lineup, a rare change to find more solutions, avoiding dependence on naturalized players. However, none of them took advantage of the opportunity to prove their ability, they showed that their level was far inferior to the naturalized players.

Therefore, Harimau Malaya (nickname of Malaysia team) still has to depend on naturalized players and has a hard time winning against Singapore team which mainly uses internal strength," Mr. Pekan Ramli assessed.

Most of the stands at Bukit Jalil Stadium were empty when Malaysia played Singapore on September 4.

Photo: Screenshot of social network X

The number of Malaysian spectators who bought tickets to watch the match against Palestine at 8:00 p.m. on September 8 at Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, only 4,197 tickets were sold.

Photo: FAM/X

Naturalized players Facundo Garces, Joao Figueiredo and Jon Irazabal were the ones who made the difference for Malaysia against Singapore. But their performance is far from that of the match against Vietnam in June, said football critic Pekan Ramli.

Furthermore, these naturalized players also seem to be giving priority to their clubs, as evidenced by the fact that they only returned to Malaysia to play 1 match, received their bonus, then rushed to the airport to return to their clubs (specifically, 2 players Facundo Garces and Dion Cools). In addition, player Faisal Halim also withdrew due to personal reasons, they will not participate in the match against Palestine.

"This raises many concerns, once the Malaysian team, for some reason, does not have the presence of some of the recently naturalized players, will the local players, with their current level of skill, be able to take on the responsibility of the team?

Another test for coach Cklamovski in the match against Palestine when another naturalized player leaves the team. This will also be a problem for this coach to consider, because the Malaysian team still has a very important match when they rematch the Vietnamese team at the end of March 2026 to decide the ticket to the Asian Cup 2027," Mr. Pekan Ramli emphasized.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/malaysia-phu-thuoc-cau-thu-nhap-tich-cdv-tay-chay-co-hoi-cho-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-185250908105714808.htm