Best foot forward: The Malaysian football team players at a gym training session ahead of their Merdeka Tournament match against the Philippines today. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: An unexpected RM15mil financial boost will be the best incentive for the national football team to win the Merdeka Tournament starting at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in his monthly assembly at the Finance Ministry in Putrajaya yesterday, announced a special allocation of RM15 million to take care of Harimau Malaya’s welfare.
“This RM15 million allocation is specifically for Harimau Malaya, not Football Association of Malaysia,” said Anwar, who hoped the special allocation will help raise the reputation of the national football team.
“RM10 million will be from the government and RM5 million from the private sector, which I have sourced.
“This will ensure that the squad’s welfare and coaching needs are met.
“Where did I learn this from? Sir Alex Ferguson.
“He told me how the welfare of each football player in the squad must be placed as priority,” he added.
And it comes at the right time as the national team under new head coach Pau Marti Vicente seek a winning debut when they take on the Philippines today.
The Spaniard will hope to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Kim Pan-gon. The Korean coach’s first assignment in charge of Malaysia was also against the Philippines.
Pan-gon, appointed in early 2022, guided Malaysia to a 2-0 win over the Philippines 2-0 in the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Tri-Country Series action in Singapore in March of that year.
On paper, Vicente has a good chance of making a winning debut as Malaysia are ranked higher at No. 134 compared to the Philippines who are at No. 147.
The Philippines also suffered a major blow before arriving in KL when their manager Tom Saintfiet resigned less than a week ago.
Meanwhile, among the eight new players who are listed in the Malaysian team are the JDT defender on loan to Terengganu Mohd Azam Azmi Murad and Selangor’s promising young defender Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar, who will be joining senior players such as Dion Cools, La’vere Corbin-Ong, Matthew Davies and Mohd Feroz Baharudin.
Also returning to strengthen the team in attack are JDT’s sensational winger Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi and his teammate Romel Morales, Sabah striker Darren Lok and Kedah striker Mohd Syafiq Ahmad.
Vicente, in a press conference yesterday, said he wants his team to play attacking football while being smart in reading the various tactical patterns of the opposing team.
“To me, the most important thing is not the style of play but how our players work together because football sometimes goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t... but your passion and your work rate must always be there. I hope we can play good football but most importantly, we must show our character,” he said.
The other Merdeka Tournament match pits defending champions Tajikistan against Lebanon. The winners of the two matches will contest the final on Sunday.
Malaysia have won the Merdeka Tournament 12 times, with the last success being in 2013. TAJIKISTAN vs LEBANON (4.30pm) MALAYSIA vs PHILIPPINES (9pm) (National Stadium, Bukit Jalil)
