FAM president Ab Ghani Hassan targets a FIFA ASEAN Cup boost for Harimau Malaya to break into the world’s top 100 and improve qualifying draw prospects
PETALING JAYA: Newly-elected Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan wants Harimau Malaya to use the Sept 25-Oct 5 FIFA ASEAN Cup in Indonesia as a springboard towards breaking into the world’s top 100
He said that would help world No. 136 Malaysia to secure a more favourable draw for the 2030 World Cup and 2031 Asian Cup qualifying campaigns next year.
“The draws for the World Cup and Asian Cup qualifiers will be held next June. Whether we win or draw in the FIFA ASEAN Cup, we will still earn points, although not many, but we need those points.
“This is crucial before the draws are made because Harimau Malaya need to at least be in Pot 2. We do not want to be in Pot 3 or Pot 4 because it would make things difficult for Harimau Malaya in the early stages (of the qualifiers),” he said after the FAM 100th Anniversary Celebration here last night.
He also said that it was important for Harimau Malaya to first target becoming the top-ranked team in Southeast Asia before taking the next step towards breaking into the world’s top 100.
Ab Ghani also plans to arrange international friendlies in a bid to improve the national squad’s FIFA ranking.
Harimau Malaya were ranked 116th in the FIFA world rankings last November before plunging to 138th in April following the issue involving the falsification of documents for seven players.
Malaysia will compete in Division One of the FIFA ASEAN Cup and have been drawn in Group A with hosts Indonesia, Singapore and Bangladesh.
Group B features Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines and Pakistan.
Malaysia, under interim coach Tan Cheng Hoe, will begin their campaign against world No. 181 Bangladesh at Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta on Friday (Sept 25) before taking on world No. 118 Indonesia at the same venue on Monday (Sept 28).
Harimau Malaya will end their group fixture against world No, 148 Singapore at the Si Jalak Harupat Stadium in Bandung on Oct 1.
The group winners will meet in the final at Gelora Bung Karno on Oct 5, while the group runners-up will meet in the third-place playoff at the same venue earlier on the same day.
