Malaysian football expert calls for player naturalization, admits 'Malaysian Tigers' cannot keep up with Vietnam's national team

Former Deputy Chairman of the Malaysian Football Coaches Association (PJBM), Zulakbal Abd Karim, urges the national team to accelerate player naturalization following a 1-3 loss to Vietnam's national team.

Zulakbal Abd Karim explained that this is an urgent and short-term measure, while emphasizing that Malaysia's domestic talent development in football needs to be strengthened for long-term preparation.

"I watched that match, where we had three groups of players: local players, heritage players (players with Malaysian ancestry), and naturalized players, but we still couldn't catch up with Vietnam's national team. In terms of technique and tactics, in my opinion, we are still below the level of Vietnam's national team," stated Zulakbal Abd Karim.

Football expert Zulakbal Abd Karim stated that last year, Malaysia's national team only defeated Vietnam's national team due to seven players involved in fraudulent naturalization. However, that match was later ruled a 0-3 loss for Malaysia by AFC.

"Looking at the past, we once defeated Vietnam's national team decisively thanks to those seven players (the group involved in fake documents). Therefore, theoretically, we truly need more naturalized players and new heritage players to be able to defeat Vietnam's national team again," admitted Zulakbal Abd Karim.

"That is only a temporary solution for short-term results because, no matter what, we must rely on our own talent. However, the problem is that training high-quality domestic players requires a lot of time," shared Zulakbal Abd Karim.

Additionally, Zulakbal believes that Malaysia's national team management should not feel ashamed when seeking heritage players (players with Malaysian ancestry) abroad.

Zulakbal argues that continuing to strengthen the squad with new heritage players is not wrong, provided they comply with the regulations set by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).

"Learn from mistakes, we must clearly understand FIFA's rules to avoid repeating past errors. Naturalized players and heritage players are still considered urgent needs for the national football program.

If we want to develop domestic talent, it requires time; you cannot wait 10 years to progress. Therefore, I think youth talent development programs and player naturalization must be implemented simultaneously to achieve both immediate and long-term effectiveness," voiced Zulakbal.