PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian football team have more than pride to play for in their friendly against Palestine on Sunday (Sept 7) night.
The match offers not only a timely morale boost ahead of October’s 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers but also a chance to secure a win over a team ranked inside the world’s top 100, which would strengthen Malaysia’s world ranking.
Palestine are currently ranked 98th while Malaysia sit at 125th, and victory over the Middle Eastern side would provide a significant lift in the standings.
An improved ranking would also benefit Malaysia in the seeding process if Peter Cklamovski’s side qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup.
However, it will not be an easy task as Malaysia’s last victory over Palestine came 24 years ago - a 4-3 win during the 2001 World Cup qualifiers in Doha, Qatar.
The Australian coach is expected to make changes for the clash, with his backroom staff likely to reshuffle the starting line-up in a bid to secure a positive result for the national team.
"Yes, of course, I believe there will be some changes, a bit of rotation, and we’ll see how it goes," said Cklamovski during the pre-match press conference at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Johor on Saturday (Sept 6).
"We still have one more training session to go through (on Sunday), which is very important. Regardless of who plays, I hold firmly to this philosophy.
"What matters most is that we play our own football and focus on what is important for us as a team.
"This is a chance to test ourselves against strong opponents, so whoever takes to the field will have the opportunity to wear the jersey again and make the country proud," he said.
Malaysia will be without three key players, Dion Cools, Facundo Garces and Faisal Halim, who all featured in the 2-1 win over Singapore last Thursday.
