SHAH ALAM – As the Football Association of Malaysia is trying to get Malaysian football back to its glory days, former national striker Khalid Jamlus believes that the naturalisation programme initiated by the national body will help in achieving the goal.
He said the national football team need to move with the changing football landscape around the world, citing that naturalisation has become a norm with other footballing nations as well.
However, Khalid said that he is excited to see local players shine as well.
“The naturalisation programme is good but I also look forward to seeing local players get the opportunity to shine as we have a great crop of young players who are as good as the naturalised players.
“The combination of naturalised players and local players has had a significant impact on Malaysian football so far. We managed to qualify for the Asian Cup on merit and the players now look to have formed a solid team,” he told Scoop when met at the EV Arena in Shah Alam today.
The last time the national team played in the Asian Cup was in 2007 when Malaysia co-hosted the tournament with neighbours Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
However, national team head coach Kim Pan-gon led his charges to qualify on merit this time after finishing runners-up in Group E of the third round of qualifying, finishing behind Bahrain.
“We are heading in a better direction as opposed to 10-20 years ago and I am confident that we can further improve our world ranking.
Malaysia currently stand 130th in the latest FIFA world rankings. – December 30, 2023