Surprised by the identities of two stars predicted by Malaysian media to score against Vietnam

Before the match against Vietnam in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers, Bharian newspaper drew attention with a noteworthy perspective. Despite having many naturalized players, Malaysia still places trust in their domestic strikers.

Malaysian media trusts domestic strikers more than naturalized ones

Coach Peter Cklamovski is facing a rather complex personnel issue. The Malaysian national team has 13 naturalized players on the list. However, many key names are absent. The reason: they have 7 players suspended by FIFA due to paperwork scandals.

"Which candidates can breach Vietnam's fortress," Bharian headlines on its homepage. "Coach Peter Cklamovski needs to devise tactics without his best players to defeat the Vietnamese team. This is not the first time he has faced such a situation. Since FIFA suspended 7 players last September, Coach Cklamovski has defeated Laos and Nepal with the available squad," the newspaper analyzes.

Of course, Vietnam is a completely different challenge compared to Laos and Nepal. In that context, Bharian believes the hope for the attack does not lie with foreign-born players. Instead, two domestic players, Faisal Halim and Safawi Rasid, are the greatest pillars.

Faisal Halim is currently in impressive form. He has scored in the last three matches for the national team, including a brace against Laos. He also scored the only goal for Malaysia's win over Nepal. Meanwhile, Safawi Rasid shines at the club level. He leads the domestic scoring list in the Malaysian national league. This forward has scored 12 goals for Kuala Lumpur City. This achievement places him fourth in the race for the top scorer, behind only Bergson Da Silva (20), Chrigor Moraes (19), and Jairo Da Silva (14).

Bharian assesses that this duo could make a difference. Both were members of Malaysia's runner-up squad in the 2018 AFF Cup. They are familiar with the playing style and have good cohesion. This is an important factor given the many changes in the squad. Malaysia still aims for a positive result on Vietnam's home ground. Nevertheless, the task is not easy. The team coached by Kim Sang Sik is rated slightly superior and well-organized.

In the first leg, with the service of seven improperly naturalized players, Malaysia once defeated Vietnam 4-0 in Kuala Lumpur. But after the paperwork forgery scandal, they were penalized with a 0-3 loss and officially lost hope of qualifying for the finals. The match at Thiên Trường tomorrow night only holds symbolic significance for this team.