FAM Naturalisation Committee chairman Datuk Yusoff Comes Up With A Totally Lame Excuse for Dismal Performance of Newly Naturalised Players
BEST FBKL Comment:
The FAM Naturalisation Committee must pick only the very best possible players that can contribute long term. It is no use selecting a 37 year old player then asking fans to be fair. How many years of playing time do you think he has? In my personal view the Committee has failed the fans. Those players wanting to play for Malaysia must have the heart and soul too, not just the skill. I can write a whole page on this fiasco but bottonline is this committee simply has to do better! I watched every match including the warm up games and was proud to see the Malaysians in action but at the same time I was shocked to see how bad De Paula and Liridon were. Dion Cools was the only one who gave a decent performance but he was just as good as some of our local players. Get Lim Teong Kim (who used to coach at Bayern Munich) and TMJ to be part of the national team set up. At the very least form a National Team Management Committee with them in it and keep the politicians out.
Fans must be fair to Liridon, De Paula - Yusoff
Bernama
Jun 17, 2021 07:11 MYT
FAM Naturalisation Committee chairman Datuk Yusoff Mahadi attributed the dismal performance of Guilherme de Paula and Liridon Krasniqi to not having had enough time to forge an understanding with the other players. - FB/FAM
KUALA LUMPUR: Harimau Malaya fans have been told to be fair when judging the performances of newly-naturalised players Guilherme de Paula and Liridon Krasniqi in the recently-concluded Group G second-round 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Naturalisation Committee chairman Datuk Yusoff Mahadi attributed their dismal performance to not having had enough time to forge an understanding with the other players.
"I hope they will use the experience gained to better understand the team's playing style if they are called up again," he told a virtual media conference today.
He said this when asked to comment on whether or not the naturalisation programme had borne fruit after Liridion, De Paula and Mohamadou Sumareh were lambasted for not having any impact on the Harimau Malaya's performance in Dubai.
Yusoff, who is also the national team manager, said that he had no power when it came to naming the naturalised players called up for national training camp, adding that his job only involved handling players' administrative matters, such as issues with the Immigration Department.
Player selection and evaluation, he said, was done by the technical committee which, among others, comprised head coach Tan Cheng Hoe and FAM technical director Datuk Ong Kim Swee.
Yusoff, however, defended the naturalisation programme, saying that it was FAM's aim to take steps to strengthen the national team.
"In terms of FIFA's rules, it's not wrong to pick naturalised players...," he said.
Malaysia, who beat Thailand 1-0 in their final Group G match at the Al Maktoum Stadium in Dubai earlier today, ended the qualifying campaign in third spot with 12 points. The UAE finished on top with 18 points, followed by Vietnam (17 points). Thailand finished fourth with nine points while Indonesia were rooted to the bottom with just one point.
The win over Thailand allowed Malaysia to automatically advance to the third round of the 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers and keep the national team's hopes of competing in the Finals alive.
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