The ball’s in your court: Peter Cklamovski (left) shaking hands with outgoing Football Association of Malaysia president Tan Sri Hamidin Mohd Amin. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: New Malaysia football team coach Peter Cklamovski will leave no stone unturned in his bid to build a strong Harimau Malaya side.
For that, the Australian of Macedonian descent intends to give every player who is eligible a chance to don the national colours.
That assurance is music to the ears of some who fear that local players could be overlooked due to the influx of naturalised and mixed heritage players.
“Everyone will have a chance to play for the team – it doesn’t matter whether they are locals or naturalised players, or how old they are. If they’re good enough, they will be picked,’’ said the former Montedio Yamagata and FC Tokyo coach after the launch of the new national team jersey by Puma at Sunway Pyramid yesterday.
“We intend to work with everyone in the federation and country. For Malaysian football to connect, unite and be together, we have to work hard, step by step. We have a lot of work to do to achieve our dreams and we have to stay humble in order to move forward.”
Johor Regent and Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, who is overseeing the national team project, had earlier revealed that he had identified six to seven mixed heritage players from Southern Europe and had urged the government to work on the process of getting them Malaysian passports.
Tunku Ismail also added that there were several players who are in the process of being naturalised, namely JDT’s Brazilian striker Bergson Da Silva and Pahang’s Argentinian winger Manuel Hidalgo, who is on loan from JDT.
Another player touted for naturalisation is Kuala Lumpur’s Australian centreback Giancarlo Gallifuoco.
On the plan to bring in more naturalised players, Cklamovski said: “This is a process that is growing. It is not for me to talk about it now. All I am excited about is seeing Puma partnering with Malaysian football. That is a huge milestone for the brand and the federation.”
The 46-year-old Cklamovski was named as the replacement for South Korean Kim Pan-gon last year under the Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) new structure.
“For me, it’s an honour and privilege to be the coach of Harimau Malaya. With all my pride and passion, I will work hard to help the team grow and move in the right direction. We have some really good foundations to work on,” he said.
“But it’s also clear that we have some weaknesses to overcome. That’s why we have to get everybody - the federation, the staff and the players - to help build a team that fans will be excited about.’’
Cklamovski added that Tunku Ismail was a major influence why he took up the challenging job.
“His power, passion, integrity and a belief to achieve something special are very inspiring.’’
