PETALING JAYA: Malaysia have set a bold target – to win the Pestabola Merdeka.
The side led by interim head coach Pau Marti Vicente will take on the Philippines in the semi-finals at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Sept 4.
A win would see them taking on either Lebanon or defending champions Tajikistan in the final on Sept 9.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) vice-president Firdaus Mohammed said the national team should win the cup on their home soil, and believed they were capable.
“We want to be champions. There is no excuse. We targeted to win it last year but it was not meant to be. This time, we will look to go all the way,” said Firdaus.
Firdaus, who is also the competitions committee chairman, said his team would further improve in the tournament in future editions.
“It is the oldest tournament in Asia. In the past, people looked forward to it,” said Firdaus.
“Teams from Europe and Africa would be waiting to be invited. We hope in the future, we can invite top-ranked nations to give more exposure to our boys.
“I’m not saying that the teams we have invited now are bad but in the future, we want to invite better-ranking teams. We want to make sure that the tournament remains prestigious.”
Firdaus also confirmed that international referees would be used for the tournament but the implementation of video assistant referee (VAR) is still under discussion.
“We do not want to organise a ‘syok sendiri’ (Full of ourselves) tournament. We will not take this tournament lightly. We will get international referees,” he said.
World No. 102 Tajikistan won the competition last year by beating Malaysia 2-0 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Malaysia are ranked 134th in the world, while their semi-final opponents the Philippines are ranked 147th in the world. Lebanon are the second-best ranked side in the competition, placed 106th in the world.
