De Paula’s place in national squad should be questioned: Khalid Ali
06- 05- 2022
KUALA LUMPUR: Naturalised national footballer Guilherme De Paula’s role as a striker has been questioned following his lacklustre performance in two recent friendly matches.
National football legend Khalid Ali said as a striker, the Brazillian-born player needed to understand his role and not be overly dependent on his physical advantage.
He questioned De Paula’s importance in the squad after he was named as one of the 23 players in the Harimau Malaya squad that will compete in the 2023 Asia Cup qualifiers next week.
“He doesn’t understand his function as a top striker, receiver and scorer, maybe that’s why his game is inconsistent and he also isn’t good at delivering, controlling the ball and penetration.
“He is only good at one-touch football, when the ball comes, he handles the goal, that’s the only skill he’s got and his large and tall physique,” he said when contacted by Bernama here today.
The former Selangor player was also of the opinion that other players, including Safiq Rahim or Muhammad Safawi Rasid, were likely to be capable of performing as strikers if De Paula continued playing this way.
Admitting that there was still a lack of understanding between players during their matches against Brunei and Hong Kong in the recent Tier 1 international friendly matches, Khalid said head coach Kim Pan Gon had much to do, especially in defence, to ensure that the national squad would play well in the qualifiers.
“Hong Kong (is) a team that doesn’t have much of an organised game (and) we found it hard to get a free goal.
“During the match against Hong Kong, (our) defending (was) very poor, Hong Kong’s strikers weren’t that good but our defence was in disarray. Hong Kong’s ranking is lower but we struggled against them, so what more when we play in the Asian Cup qualifiers,” he added.
Malaysia beat Brunei 4-0 and Hong Kong 2-0 when they played at Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) announced the list of 23 players chosen by national head coach Pan Gon for the 2023 Asian Cup qualifiers yesterday.
Drawn into Group E, the national squad will take on Turkmenistan this Wednesday, followed by Bahrain on June 11 before wrapping things up against Bangladesh on June 14. - Bernama
BEST FBKL: We fully agree and still question how was he given citizenship.???
