Huge responsibility: Newly-appointed captain Matthew Davies at a training session in Auckland, New Zealand, yesterday. — FAM
PETALING JAYA: Matthew Davies has been handed the skipper’s armband for the national football team’s challenging mission to take on New Zealand in Auckland next Monday.
Dion Cools, who was the skipper when Harimau Malaya lifted the Merdeka Tournament title last month, is not available for the national team as he has to attend to family matters.
Current interim coach Pau Marti Vicente is optimistic the absence of Cools will not affect Malaysia’s mission to hunt for a positive result against the Kiwis, who are ranked 95th in the world, in the Tier 1 international friendly action in Auckland.
“We have many players who are capable of showing leadership. Matthew Davies is one of the leaders of our team for this match,” said Vicente.
“Davies will take on the captain’s responsibility. Syamer Kutty (Abba) also has a lot of experience to help the team.
“We emphasise the teamwork aspect, everyone must be able to contribute,” he said.
In addition to playing against New Zealand, Harimau Malaya will also have a chance to test their match readiness with a friendly match against one of the leading clubs in the Kiwi league tomorrow. The friendly action with New Zealand is important enough to collect as many ranking points as possible to change Malaysia’s position in the 2027 Asian Cup Qualification draw that will be held this December.
Malaysia are currently ranked 132nd in the world.
Based on the current ranking position, the national squad should be placed in Jar Two but still has the opportunity to change that position to enter Jar One to pave the way for a better path later.
Next Monday’s friendly will be the first time between both national sides since Feb 23, 2006. At that time, New Zealand beat Malaysia 2-1.
It will be anything but easy for Vicente’s men as New Zealand have not only qualified for the 2010 World Cup before but the team have also been strengthened by many players based in Europe such as Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest), Marko Stamenic (Olympiakos) and Matthew Garbett (NAC Breda).
Vicente, however, feels a strong test will benefit the national team.
“It’s been almost 20 years since Malaysia (last time) played in New Zealand, a difficult team and a difficult place to play,” he said.
“We have to get used to this kind of opponent to increase our confidence and get a good result.”
The national team had their first training session on Monday in Auckland.
