Malaysia National Team Pressured by Its Legends Follow Indonesia’s Naturalization Steps

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Kuala Lumpur -Malaysian football legend, Datuk Jamal Nasir, urged Harimau Malaya to follow Indonesia’s naturalization steps. It is believed that this could improve the quality of the team.

That was stated by Jamal Nasir, who led Malaysia to victory in the SEA Games in 1977 and 1979, to the New Straits Times. He believes that the naturalization steps taken by rivals in Southeast Asia such as Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand can be implemented seriously.

“Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia have used many naturalized players.” “We cannot ignore this trend if we want to compete with them,” Nasir told the New Straits Times.

“This policy must be maintained for the next 5 years so that it can rise again,” he explained.

Currently, Vietnam and Indonesia are starting to seriously maximize naturalized players. For example, Vietnam brought in Nguyen Xuan Son of Brazilian descent in the AFF Cup 2024, who became the top scorer and helped the team win the championship.

Then Indonesia successfully brought in dozens of players of Dutch descent in recent years. As a result, Garuda maintains the chance to qualify for the 2026 World Cup after being able to compete until the third round of the current qualifiers.

Meanwhile, Malaysia already has several naturalized players. Dion Cools, Sergio Aguero, and Romel Morales are some of them, but it is still considered insufficient.

Although he considers naturalization important, Datuk Jamal Nasir reminds that early childhood development should not be overlooked. Young players are expected to play a lot.

“The current development approach does not train players enough to be ready for the international arena.” More matches are needed for U15, U16, U17 players,” said Nasir.

“The infrastructure in Malaysia is good, but it still needs funding from the government and private sector.” This source of funding helps to bring back naturalized players who do not come from hybrid bloodlines, while also developing local talent,” he hoped.

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