Cklamovski's secret 'heritage' weapons primed to strike against Vietnam
KUALA LUMPUR: Harimau Malaya will be looking to break their 11-year winless streak against Vietnam when they clash in a crunch Asian Cup Group F qualifier at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Tuesday (9pm).
Malaysia have lost seven and drawn one in their last eight meetings with the Golden Star Warriors since their last victory in the 2014 AFF Cup, now rebranded as the Asean Cup.
But head coach Peter Cklamovski is banking on his new batch of heritage players — many of whom hail from South America and Europe — to tilt the balance in favour of the hosts.
Among the fresh faces expected to feature are Argentines Imanol Machuca, Rodrigo Holgado and Facundo Garces, Brazilian Joao Figueiredo, and Jon Irazabal.
All have trained behind closed doors, with both training sessions and the recent friendly against Cape Verde kept under wraps.
Also in the squad are Hector Hevel and Gabriel Palmero, who joined up with the national team in March following Cklamovski's appointment.
"We have the mentality to win every game we play," said Cklamovski at Monday's pre-match press conference.
"There's a little bit of detail around the fact that Malaysia haven't beaten Vietnam in over 10 years — but instead of fearing that, we see it as a challenge. We want to create history, and that's the opportunity in front of us.
"I'm very happy with the squad and excited to deliver a good performance. The new boys have shown pride in every training session, and we're building a family atmosphere in this team. We're focused and ready."
Cklamovski brushed off suggestions that secrecy surrounding his squad had created distraction.
"If anything, the noise is for you guys (in the media). Internally, we're focused. We work on being a strong team, and that's what we do every day."
Vietnam coach Kim Sang Sik, meanwhile, admitted that his side have little information on Malaysia's new-look squad but is urging his team to concentrate on themselves.
"This could be the most important and difficult match in our path to the Asian Cup," said Sang Sik.
"If Vietnam play as a unit and execute our attacking tactics, we can get the points. Away games are never easy, but our preparation has been good.
"Whether we know a lot about the new players or not, the result depends on how we perform. There's pressure, but I choose to think positively. We will give our all."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
3 hours ago
- The Star
Tennis-Keys leads American charge into quarter-finals at Queen's Club
Tennis - Queen's Club Championships - Queen's Club, London, Britain - June 11, 2025 Madison Keys of the U.S. in action during her round of 16 match against Russia's Anastasia Zakharova Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge (Reuters) -Second seed Madison Keys powered into the quarter-finals of the Queen's Club Championships with a 6-3 6-2 win over Anastasia Zakharova on Wednesday while fellow Americans Emma Navarro and Amanda Anisimova also progressed. Australian Open champion Keys had an early wobble in the opening set in her first grasscourt match of the season when she found herself 3-1 down as she tried to find her footing. But she did not panic and quickly recovered to win the next five games, sealing the set with an ace straight down the middle. Zakharova had her moments in the second set but could not contend with the power of Keys, who converted five break points and clinched victory with an unreturned serve to wrap up the contest in 68 minutes. "Always tough to play your first match on the grass, especially against someone who's already played a few matches. But overall, pretty happy and happy that I get another match here," Keys said. "The first couple of games felt like I was just trying to find my footing. Once I did, I feel like I played really well." Third seed Navarro overcame a nightmare opening set and also saved match point to beat Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia 1-6 7-6(4) 6-3. After Navarro saved a match point in the second set, Haddad Maia led 4-2 in the tiebreak but the Brazilian lost her momentum when play was paused so an audience member could receive medical treatment. Haddad Maia then began making errors and Navarro pounced, forcing a decider where the Brazilian lost serve with a double fault before Navarro clinched victory in a match that lasted nearly three hours. "It wasn't easy. I think I've spent the most time on a match court with Bea than anyone else. We play each other all the time and we always go to three sets," Navarro said. "I've only been playing on grass for about four days, it's a quick turnaround." Navarro set up a quarter-final clash with Anisimova, who needed only 64 minutes to beat Sonay Kartal 6-1 6-3, the second Briton she had beaten at the tournament after Jodie Burrage. "I'm so sorry, guys," she told the home fans. "There's been some tough matches here but I am enjoying it and glad to be through to the next round. "There are so many strong girls right now in America and I am so happy to see us doing well. I am sure the match with Emma will be a battle. She is a tough player and I am looking forward to it." Any home hopes of British success in the doubles also went up in smoke when Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter lost 6-2 7-5 to top seeds Erin Routliffe and Lyudmyla Kichenok. (Reporting by Rohith Nair in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)
Free Malaysia Today
4 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Extend Harimau Malaya's meritocratic principles to public sector leadership, says Zaid
Nine of Harimau Malaya's starting-11 in their 2027 Asian Cup qualifier against Vietnam last night were naturalised players. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : Former law minister Zaid Ibrahim has questioned why merit-based policies in Malaysia cannot be applied to public sector leadership following Harimau Malaya's convincing win against Vietnam in a 2027 Asian Cup qualifier last night. A new-look Harimau Malaya eased past reigning Asean Cup champions Vietnam 4-0 in front of more than 61,000 fans at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, their first victory against the Golden Star Warriors in 11 years. Nine of the team's starting-11 were naturalised players, with five of them – Joao Figueiredo, Rodrigo Holgado, Jon Irazabal, Facundo Garces and Imanol Machuca – receiving Fifa clearance just hours before kick-off. In a Facebook post, Zaid noted that a flexible naturalisation policy and deep pockets have allowed the Football Association of Malaysia to attract world-class players. 'I was astounded to read about the team's win over Vietnam. It was not so long ago that Malaysia was floundering at the bottom of the world rankings. We might soon win the World Cup,' he quipped. 'From the list of our players, I can only recognise two whom I would consider Malaysian. 'This brings me to the question: if we can transform football teams in that fashion, why not transform our political leaders, civil service, and GLC heads by enticing world-class expertise to prop up the country? 'Why are we so against merit-based policy in other, more critical fields? Why are they only limited to football?' The result solidifies Malaysia's spot at the top of the four-team Group F with three wins from as many matches. Harimau Malaya, who have yet to concede a goal in their qualifying campaign, will face Laos in their next match on Oct 9. Only the group winner will secure a spot in the 2027 Asian Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Saudi Arabia from Jan 7 to Feb 5, 2027. FAM's policy of naturalising foreign players for the national team came under scrutiny from former national players last year, who argued that the national football body should focus on developing local talent rather than relying on foreign-born players.
New Straits Times
8 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Cklamovski's men don't just dream, they work very hard
KUALA LUMPUR: The man from Down Under has put Malaysia on a high. And Australian coach Peter Cklamovski feels that the Asian Cup qualification is not just a dream as Malaysia now have the performance to back it up. Malaysia have surged to the top of Group F after demolishing Vietnam 4-0 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday. Cklamovski's men, who beat Nepal 2-0 in their group opener in March, are well on course to qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup in Saudi Arabia. Cklamovski said in the post-match press conference: "We got that dream, without a doubt, and you saw the commitment the players have for that. "We don't just think about it, we have to do it by action, and we have to do it by action every day, and that performance is a reflection of what I see every day from May 19, phase one, through to phase two, and then to the final phase. "I see a committed group of players hungry to build a team mentality that will make Malaysians proud, and tonight's a reflection of that. "To recover, we have to analyse this game, and then we get on to the next one. We've just got three points, that's all. "We've got more work to do, and we've got more steps to take to performance. Again, you'll hear me say it a lot, because that's everything that we think and talk about, because it's not about one player, it's about 11 players. We have 11 captains on the field, whoever plays. "We have 30 players training hard, being leaders in training. That's a mentality that will grow. We've got more work to do, physically improving, football's improving, and we've got more work to do." After seeing Malaysia end an 11-year barren record against Southeast Asia big guns Vietnam, Cklamovski said: "There's a lot of speculation around our opponents, and from people saying that we can't outwork Vietnam. I'm really proud of the players for pushing 97 minutes out, and I want to say a big thank you to all the supporters that turned up. That was a special atmosphere, I'm sure. "It made all the players feel special playing for Malaysia, and we wanted to play football to get them united. We wanted to play football to inspire them, and tonight we showed them the team we want to be," he added.
