KUALA LUMPUR: "I think even Alex Ferguson would faint if he had to coach the Malaysian team,” said former football great Datuk Jamal Nasir in the aftermath of the national team’s disastrous results in the Asian Cup qualifiers.
The Pahang legend said the national squad's atrocious performance showed that the players have no “international standards” and can only be proud of their “jaguh kampung” status.
Jamal said it should not be the case as the national team enjoy strong support and facilities to help them play better.
"Every time we lose, the coach gets the blame when in fact the players on the field just did not perform. Their quality is only good for the local league and they are not prepared, either physically or mentally, to compete at international level,” said Jamal today.
"(National coach) Nelo Vingada has to work with such players. If we only have this kind of players, even a big name coach would struggle.
"We should rest our senior players and give our under-23 or under-19 players a chance to compete at a higher level.
"Some may be worried that we might get hammered if we send a young squad but we still do (get thrashed) with the senior team. So, what is the difference?"
Malaysia's hopes of qualifying for the 2019 Asia Cup came to a humiliating end after the team's double loss (with identical 4-1 scores) to North Korea in the qualifiers.
Translated from Berita Harian