PETALING JAYA: It will be a mix of Malaysia and Southern Europe.
That sounds like a delicious combo that could make up the national football team after Johor Regent and Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim revealed that seven new mixed heritage players have been identified for the Harimau Malaya.
Tunku Ismail, on his Twitter account, did not disclose the players’ names but mentioned their playing positions and where they are based in Europe.
“Centreback, leftback, striker, central midfielder, attacking midfielder and left winger. The majority of them are playing in the European top leagues. No one from England, mostly from Southern Europe,” he replied to a message on Twitter.
It is learnt that the players identified could be from Spain and France.
Malaysia have had mixed heritage players from Spain, most notably the Insa brothers - Kiko, who has retired, and Natxo, who remains a key player for JDT.
JDT also have young goalkeeper Christian Abad, who is of Malaysian-Spanish heritage.
The move to bring in more mixed heritage players is part of plans to help new coach Peter Cklamovski prepare for the Asian Cup 2027 third-round qualifiers beginning in March.
“We hope the Malaysian government can assist in the process of obtaining Malaysian passports for them to play in the Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers, which starts in March,” said Tunku Ismail.
“It’s crucial that Harimau Malaya start the campaign on a good note.”
