KUALA LUMPUR: England-born Lee Tuck is eager to change his stripes to play for the Malayan Tigers.
Tuck, who turns out for Terengganu in the M-League, is keen to follow in the footsteps of Gambia-born Mohamadou Sumareh who turned out for Malaysia in the recent AFF Cup as a naturalised player.
“Yes, I am interested to represent Malaysia. It will be a huge honour for me to pull on the Malaysian jersey but it all depends on Football Association of Malaysia (FAM),” said Tuck when contacted today.
Tuck gained the attention of local fans after NSTP Sport reported he was one of those being considered by FAM to represent Malaysia as a naturalised player.
The midfielder began playing in Malaysia in 2016 with Negri Sembilan and a season later he joined Terengganu.
Gaining citizenship should not be an issue for Tuck whose grandmother is Malaysian.
Tuck, who has also been on the books of Thai clubs Bangkok FC and Nakhon Ratchasima, admitted that he felt inspired after watching Sumareh and the strong backing from the Malaysian fans in the AFF Cup.
“I will definitely accept an offer (from FAM) like Sumareh. He played well with the national squad since joining and it will be interesting if I can follow in his footsteps,” added Tuck.
A number of mixed parentage players have previously represented Malaysia. They were Matthew Davies, Natxo Insa, Kiko Insa, Brendan Gan and Junior Eldstal.