By Shikin Louis
KUCHING, June 12: Youth, Sports and Entrepreneur Development Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah has expressed his preference for a national football team made up of “pure Malaysians” but acknowledges the practical need for heritage and naturalised players to boost Malaysia’s performance on the global stage.
While calling it his “personal wish” to see only locally born players who speak Bahasa Malaysia donning the Harimau Malaya jersey, Abdul Karim said modern football no longer operates within such boundaries.
“Of course, I would love to see only betul-betul (pure) Malaysians. But then, the world body has allowed this kind of thing.
“It’s happening not just in Malaysia—you see the Indonesian team also like that, the Philippines team also like that.
“You look at the China team too—there are dark-skinned players who are not originally from China. You see the Vietnam team also like that. It’s happening all over the world,” he said during a press conference at the Baitul Makmur 2 building here today.
His comments come in the wake of Malaysia’s stunning 4-0 victory over Vietnam in the second 2027 Asian Cup Group F qualifying match at Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Tuesday (June 10), marking Malaysia’s first win over the Southeast Asian rival in 11 years and breaking a long-standing losing streak. The team fielded several foreign-born players, many of whom are of Malaysian heritage.
Abdul Karim who is also the Sarawak Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, explained that many heritage players currently representing Malaysia are born to Malaysian mothers, often from Sabah or Sarawak, but raised abroad—particularly in Europe.
“Some of them are living in Belgium or elsewhere but are still half-Malaysian. Since they’re eligible and playing in strong leagues, we bring them back to represent Malaysia,” he said.
He also noted the increasing presence of naturalised players—foreigners granted Malaysian citizenship specifically to strengthen the national team during the peak of their careers.
“Sementara saja (This is temporary). When they can play football, when they are at the peak of their football career and they seem to be able to fit into the Malaysian team, we naturalise them. It’s happening all over the world.
“Whether it’s good or not, there are pros and cons to it,” he added.
Abdul Karim acknowledged concerns that the use of heritage and naturalised players could sideline grassroots development, but stressed that performance remains a key driver of national pride and global reputation.
“If we stick to only homegrown players, our FIFA ranking might fall even further from the present (131). That’s something we don’t want.
“With better players, at least our ranking can go up—maybe to 120,” he stressed.
Under new head coach Peter Cklamovski, Harimau Malaya fielded a revamped lineup with heritage players Joao Figueiredo, Rodrigo Holgado, Jon Irazabal, and Facundo Garces making their debut, while Imanol Machuca was named on the bench.
The team also included naturalised players Endrick, Paolo Josue, Romel Morales, and Corbin Ong, along with other heritage players like Matthew Davies, Hector Hevel, and Nooa Laine.
Local-born players in the squad were Syihan Hazmi, Dion Cools, Arif Aiman, Haziq Nadzli, Harith Haiqal, Faisal Halim, Sikh Izhan, Nazmi Faiz, and Ubaidullah Shamsul. — DayakDaily
