Hard at work: National players training at Wisma FAM ahead of their Merdeka Tournament final against Tajikistan tomorrow. — Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: Many people believe that most leaders are made rather than born.
But it wouldn’t be wrong to put national defender Matthew Davies in the latter category.
Matthew Davies.
The 28-year-old of Australian-Malaysian parentage, who was born in Perth, is donning the captain’s armband in the Merdeka Tournament in commanding fashion. And it’s no surprise he’s such a natural in the role.
When Matthew played for Pahang from 2015 to 2020, he became the team captain at only 21. He went on to make history by becoming the youngest Pahang captain to lift the FA Cup in 2018 at age 23.
With those credentials, Malaysia coach Kim Pan-gon had no hesitation making Matthew one of four leaders – along with centreback Dion Cools, winger Faisal Halim and midfielder Brendan Gan – in his team who will take turns captaining the country.
Matthew is now a step away from leading Malaysia to Merdeka Tournament success as they take on Tajikistan in the final tomorrow. The hosts reached the final after a 4-2 win over India on Friday.
Matthew is expected to be the skipper again in the final and he is savouring the experience so far. But he was quick to stress he was not too engrossed in the role as he insists there are other players capable of being the leader.
“I think we have 11 captains on the field, keeping each other hungry. Our focus is to win the tournament because it’s our tournament. We don’t want to let another nation win it in front of our fans,’’ said Matthew.
“For me, being the captain is always a great experience. I was the skipper at Pahang for four seasons and learned a great deal from it. I’m using that experience now to lead Malaysia.”
Malaysia, however, have their work cut out against Tajikistan who are ranked 24 rungs higher in the world at 110th while Matthew and Co lie 134th.
But Matthew believes that having beaten India (world No. 102), and holding Syria (No. 93) and China (No. 80) in friendlies last month, the team have shown they have improved considerably.
“We take a lot of confidence from these kinds of games. We are ready to compete against teams that are higher ranked than us.
“Our core is more or less the same. We have it locked down for the Asian Cup.”
Meanwhile, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) confirmed that the Merdeka Tournament final venue would still be played at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil despite Johor Crown Prince Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim’s offer to make the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, an alternative venue.
The FAM said the decision was made as they did not want to disrupt the team’s preparations and inconvenience fans who had purchased tickets to watch the final in Bukit Jalil.
The refurbished pitch at the National Stadium became an issue after the Indian team complained about its “unplayable” conditions after the match on Friday.
Tunku Ismail said that the new Zeon Zoysia pitch still needed two to three months before it is ready for use.
