Timely: Burnley midfielder Josh Brownhill apparently has links to Malaysia.
PETALING JAYA: The nation could see more mixed heritage and naturalised players being a part of Harimau Malaya in the near future.
But interim national coach Pau Marti Vicente said he will have to assess them first if they are good enough to be part of the Malaysian team.
“Those names, we need to see first. It is difficult to comment on players who are not here. If something is happening, once confirmed, we will speak about them,” said the Spaniard.
“Even in this call-up for the Merdeka Tournament, we had quality and options. If there are more players coming, they need to fight for the spot, not just the first eleven but to be in the squad itself.”
After winning the Merdeka Tournament by beating Lebanon 1-0 in the final, some quarters have said that the national team would be further bolstered by players with Malaysian heritage who are based overseas.
Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Tan Sri Hamidin Mohd Amin last month confirmed that two players – midfielder Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal (St Louis City 2, United States) and defender Mats Deijl (Go Ahead Eagles, Holland) – are available for national team selection for future games.
Now there are rumours that the association are speaking to several other players, with some claiming that Dutch-based winger Iggy Houben, who plays for Jong PSV and midfielder Josh Brownhill, who captains Championship side Burnley, have links to Malaysia.
As for naturalised players, Penang’s Brazilian centreback Rafael Vitor is available for the national team next year.
Vicente said having mixed-heritage and naturalised players in national teams is now a norm for many Asian countries
“How the world is working at the moment, you will see more mixed players in every country. It will become a reality in every nation. For coaches, if they are eligible, we will assess and see if they are good enough to be part of the team.”
Some of the mixed-heritage players that starred in the Merdeka Tournament are leftbacks Daniel Ting (Sabah), La’vere Corbin-Ong (Johor Darul Ta’zim), rightbacks Matthew Davies (JDT) and Dion Cools (Buriram United, Thailand), midfielder Nooa Laine (Selangor) and Darren Lok (Sabah). As for naturalised players, Malaysia had the likes of midfielder Endrick Dos Santos (Ho Chin Minh City Vietnam), strikers Paulo Josue (Kuala Lumpur) and Romel Morales (JDT).
Other mixed-heritage players who remain a key part of the national set-up are midfielders Brendan Gan (Kuala Lumpur), Stuart Wilkin (Sabah), centreback Junior Eldstal (JDT), leftback Declan Lambert (Kuala Lumpur) and rightback Quentin Cheng (Selangor).
As for naturalised players, the likes of winger Mohamadou Sumareh (JDT) and playmaker Sergio Aguero (Pahang) are also part of the national team’s long list.
