PETALING JAYA: The country comes first rather than family for mixed heritage footballer Imanol Machuca.
The 25-year-old missed the birth of his first born baby boy back in Argentina in order to be with the national football team for the all-important 2027 Asian Cup third-round qualifier against Vietnam on Tuesday.
His wife Ailen Bernardi, a personal trainer, gave birth at the start of the week but Imanol was already on board the plane on a 30-hour journey from Roldan.
"My beautiful baby boy," Machuca announced on his Instagram.
And Machuca certainly has all the motivation he needs to help Malaysia end their long winless drought against Vietnam.
Machuca, a winger who plays for Velez Sarsfield on loan from Brazilian side Fortaleza, is one of the five Malaysians abroad who joined the national team led by Australian coach Peter Cklamovski earlier this week.
The others are strikers Joao Figueiredo and Rodrigo Holgado; and defenders Jon Iranzabal and Facundo Garces.
"Malaysia have given all the best to me since I arrived to join the training camp earlier in the week.
"I genuinely feel it is something special to represent the Harimau Malaya. It is a big honour for me and I will give it my all," added Machuca, who are among the youngest mixed heritage players in the national team.
Cklamovski yesterday released the list of 30 players for the third and final phase of training, leaving out Syamer Kutty Abba, Ahmad Zikri Khalil and Haqimi Azim.
The final list includes Dion Cools, who just arrived from Japan on Friday to join the training camp.
Malaysia's last victory over Vietnam came in 2014. Since then, the Golden Star Warriors have won seven of their eight meetings in all competitions, with one match ending in a draw.
Their most recent encounter was a 3-0 defeat for Malaysia in the 2022 AFF Cup group stage - now renamed the Asean Championship.
Both nations sit level at the top of Group F with three points each, having won their opening matches.
The Team
Goalkeepers: Azri Ghani, Haziq Nadzli, Sikh Izhan, Syihan Hazmi.
Defenders: Corbin Ong, Daniel Ting, Dion Cools, Facundo Garces, Gabriel Palmero, Harith Haiqal, Jon Irazabal, Junior Eldstal, Matthew Davies, Quentin Cheng, Shahrul Saad, Ubaidullah Shamsul.
Midfielders: Afiq Fazail, Endrick Dos Santos, Hector Hevel, Nazmi Faiz, Nooa Laine, Stuart Wilkin.
Strikers: Arif Aiman Hanapi, Faisal Halim, Imanol Machuca, Joao Figueiredo, Paulo Josue, Rodrigo Holgado, Romel Morales, Safawi Rasid.
