Akmal Rizal comments on Malaysia's heritage footballers

New Straits Times

3 days ago

KUALA LUMPUR: As Malaysia bask in their highest world football ranking in 19 years, which is No. 125, the inevitable question is how much of this success is due to the foreign-born players in the national team.
Former international Akmal Rizal Rakhli attributed Malaysia's rise to both
development programmne and the inclusion of heritage players.
"This is the outcome of a long-term project that started under Tan Cheng Hoe (former national coach) and continues with Peter Cklamovski," he said.
"The addition of heritage players has also helped us get results against stronger teams."
Akmal believes that Harimau Malayia are well-positioned to continue their ascent.
Malaysia will debut in the Cafa Nations Cup (Aug 29-Sept 8) and also play three Asia Cup qualifiers in October and November.
Akmal said if Malaysia meet Iran in the Nations Cup and achieve a good result, this could significantly boost their world ranking.
"We could even reach world No. 120 by the end of the year if we build on what we showed against Vietnam (Malaysia won 4-0 in an Asian Cup qualifier last month).
"Strong performances in these competitive matches will give us more ranking points and better international standing," said Akmal, who scored 17 goals in 47 appearances for Malaysia,
On fans' concerns over the rising number of foreign-born players in the national team, Akmal said the naturalisation route is necessary.
"If we're being honest, this is something we needed to do. The heritage players are quality footballers who were developed in strong systems abroad.
"It opens our eyes to what's required to compete in Asia. But yes, it does reduce chances for local boys. Our local players can't be comfortable anymore.
"The message is clear, no spot is guaranteed. Some players who were regulars before are now out of the squad. It's a wake-up call," he said.