PETALING JAYA: It has been over 10 years since Malaysia defeated Vietnam on the football pitch, and head coach Peter Cklamovski wants to end that drought.
And to achieve that, their friendly against Cape Verde today will be his final testing ground ahead of the clash against Vietnam on June 10 for the 2027 Asian Cup third-round qualifiers at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
“As a country, we have not beaten Vietnam for over 10 years,” he said ahead of the squad’s training session yesterday.
“We have full respect for Vietnam as a team and as a country, and we’ll be giving everything we’ve got to change history.
Malaysia’s last win against Vietnam came in the 2014 AFF Cup when Harimau Malaya won 5-4 in the semi-final.
Vietnam never lost any of their next eight matches against Malaysia, only settling for a 2-2 draw in the 2018 AFF Cup.
Although the friendly with Cape Verde is a closed door match, it will be Cklamovski’s first time leading the team in Bukit Jalil, but the Australian is more focused on the task at hand.
“Cape Verde have the qualities to challenge us and we need to be ready for it. This game will help us develop the final phase of our training for tough opponents like Vietnam.
“The friendly isn’t going to be a two 45-minute game. We’re controlling the minutes and want to play a game that’s going to be at the highest possible intensity,” he said.
Malaysia drew 1-1 against Cape Verde last Thursday at the Cheras Football Stadium in their first friendly match.
On the arrival of new names in the squad, Cklamovski remained tight-lipped, as rumours about Argentine striker Rodrigo Holgado, and Spaniards Jefte Betancor and Jon Irazabal continue to circulate.
“There are a lot of names out there, some names I haven’t even seen before. There’s a lot of speculation, and I respect that.
“But at the moment we are focused on our match,” he said.
Meanwhile, winger Safawi Rasid said the possible arrival of new heritage players doesn’t scare him, stating that it would create healthy competition within the team.
“For me, I think it’s good for the team because there will be healthy competition in training.
“As a local player, or any other player for that matter, we should all be giving everything we have during training without excuses,” he said.
