PETALING JAYA: Sergio Aguero (pic) has voted in Malaysia. Now, he wants to score for the country.
Argentina-born Aguero, who has just got his citizenship papers, is really looking forward to donning the national colours in the upcoming Asean Football Federation (AFF) Cup from Dec 20-Jan 16.
The 28-year-old recently received his citizenship and even managed to cast his vote in the 15th General Election last month.
“I’m very happy to represent my new country and will do my best for this team,” said the striker who plays for Pahang in the Super League.
“I want to make sure my call-up by the coaching team is the right choice because it is not easy to get selected.”
A total of 12 players were unable to commit for the current national training camp conducted by head coach Kim Pan-gon.
“As a professional player, I worked hard to be here and those who know me will testify that I will give my all during training,” said Aguero.
“I didn’t play much this season, so I will try to prove myself during training.
“The lack of playing minutes does make it a little difficult for me to follow the high-intensity training sessions but that’s no excuse. I’m trying to adapt and will fight to get my position in the team by training harder,” said Aguero, who has only played two competitive matches for the Pahang side.
He has set a personal target to be in the final list of 23 players for the AFF Cup.
“I’ve been here for six years. I’ve had many offers from other countries but I chose to be here.
“I love this country, the people are nice.
“I just want the fans to trust the new players and support them. We will try to give 100% for the coach, fans and the country.”
The final squad will be decided after two friendly matches against Cambodia at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium (Dec 9) and Maldives at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium in Cheras (Dec 14).
Malaysia open their Group B campaign in the AFF Cup against Myanmar in Yangon on Dec 21.
Their other matches are against Laos in Kuala Lumpur (Dec 24), Vietnam in Hanoi (Dec 27) and Singapore in Kuala Lumpur (Jan 3).
