KUALA LUMPUR – Harimau Muda, currently in Qatar for the 2024 Asian U-23 Cup, received a gift that keeps them closer to home for this year’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations.
The players and officials, under the tutelage of Juan Torres Garrido, were sponsored with baju melayu, samping, and songkok by Malaysia’s leading giant textile company, Jakel Textile.
The players dressed in their Hari Raya attire when they visited the Malaysian embassy in Doha, Qatar, to celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
The celebration was also attended by Malaysian ambassador to Qatar TYT Zamshari Shaharan.
Garrido expressed his gratitude to Jakel Textile for sponsoring the Raya attire for his squad while they are away from home.
“The sponsorship of this Raya attire can, to some extent, alleviate the longing of my players who are unable to spend Aidilfitri with their families this year.
“Thank you, Jakel Textile, for your concern, and I believe this can boost my players’ motivation for the first action of the U-23 Asia Cup 2024,” said Garrido.
Garrido will be without key players Azam Azmi Murad, V. Ruventhiran, Rahadiazli Rahalim and Richard Chin during the under-23 Asian Cup due to injuries.
In Doha, Malaysia will face Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Kuwait in Group D.
The top three teams in Doha will earn automatic Olympic berths, while the fourth-placed team will be involved in the intercontinental play-off.
The last time Malaysia’s national football squad made it to the Olympics was at the 1980 Moscow Games.
However, the country chose to boycott that event after the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. – April 10, 2024