Giving his best: Malaysia’s Endrick dos Santos (right) in action during a friendly match against Turkmenistan at the Sultan Iskandar Stadium in Iskandar Puteri. — FAM
PETALING JAYA: A long wait ended for naturalised Brazilian player Endrick dos Santos as he donned the yellow Harimau Malaysia jersey for the first time in a Tier 1 friendly match against Turkmenistan at the Sultan Iskandar Stadium in Iskandar Puteri on Thursday.
Malaysia carved out a 1-0 win and the 28-year-old was overjoyed to be on the winning side.
“I am very happy to play for Malaysia. This is the moment I have been waiting for for the past five years,” said the midfielder, who currently features for Johor Darul Ta’zim.
“We waited a long time to do this and I am happy for the victory.
“Yes, I stayed for five years. All my family is happy here and I think I can contribute something for the country.
“During the five years I watched football here, I thought I could help people, the players to develop more.
“Of course, football is going up at every level and I think it’s good. So, this is a good moment for the Malaysian national team and they are all happy.
Dos Santos has been playing in Malaysia since 2018, first donning the colours of the now-defunct Felcra and then joining Selangor in 2019.
From 2020 to 2022, he played for Penang, captaining them to the Premier League title in 2020 and helping them finish third in the Super League in 2021.
He is hoping to continue getting more playing minutes with the national team and is ready to face up to the demands of coach Kim Pan-gon, who wants the players to keep pressing at all times.
“If you can’t handle pressure, you have to choose a different sport. We look at the pressure in football as something healthy.
“We have a lot of good players in the team and we also want to help the new players be better this season,” he added.
Another player who also made his international debut on Thursday was young defender Nooa Laine but he was not exactly pleased at the end of the match.
The 21-year-old, who is of Malaysian-Finnish parentage, had scoring opportunities but failed to translate them into goals. Laine plays in midfield for Finnish club SJK Seinajoki.
“Of course, you are never satisfied and I had a few chances to score,” said Laine.
“The coach put me in that position and I have to use the opportunity and show what I can do. So, that’s what I’m trying to do here.
“This is my first game with the people here and I’m sure as I play more games and practise with them, the chemistry will get better.
The two players will get another chance to impress when Malaysia take on Hong Kong in another Tier 1 friendly at the same venue on Tuesday.
