OF the 736 players at the 2018 Russia World Cup, 82 were not born in the countries they represented.
Twenty-two of the tournament's 32 teams had at least one foreign-born player.
Morocco paraded the most number of foreign-born players with 17, followed by Tunisia and Senegal (nine each). Switzerland were powered by eight imports followed by Portugal (seven), Serbia (five), Nigeria and Croatia (four each) and Spain (three).
Australia, France (excluding players whose parents are immigrants) and Iceland roped in two each. Argentina, Denmark, Costa Rica, Egypt, Iran, Japan, England, Poland, Russia and Uruguay had one each.
Nationalities and borders seem to be blurred. How is this possible? You thought only citizens of a country are eligible to play for their national team in the World Cup, a tournament that draws so much nationalistic pride.
But because citizenship rules vary — birth, parentage and residency are handled in different ways in different countries — many players qualify for more than one national team.
The naturalisation of footballers has been an ongoing phenomenon for the past decade or so.
Whether it is good or bad, many countries do not want to be left behind. Their goal is to win and enhance their reputations.
However, World Cup teams are in a different league altogether as the foreign-born players representing them are of world class quality.
Malaysia used to say "no" to naturalised players but changed their stand a few years ago.
Now, we have several foreign-born players, mostly with ancestral ties to Malaysia, representing Harimau Malaya.
However, the problem in Southeast Asia is that its football nations do not have quality control.
Countries in this region would offer passports freely to foreign players even though they are just mediocre footballers.
Malaysia's national team, no doubt, have improved recently, but they are far from being Asia's best yet.
Although players like Brendan Gan, Matthew Davies and Mohamadou Sumareh have added depth to Tan Cheng Hoe's side, many other naturalised players have failed to make their marks in the M-League.
Some have even disappeared from the scene after failing to get into M-League teams.
This shows that Malaysia have been naturalising many players with ancestral ties without doing much homework.
To be blunt, some of these players are only here because they failed to make it in their countries.
Although grooming homegrown talent is the best policy in sports, Malaysia are not doing enough in this area.
It is different in Europe, North and South America, and some countries in Asia and Africa. Their successful club system has development programmes for children as young as six years old.
Here, only two or three clubs have such programmes. Many Malaysian clubs only start grooming players at a rather late age of 17.
This is hardly the right method as footballers should be given good coaching when they are 12 or 13.
For fast results, Malaysia have resorted to naturalising players to beef up their national team.
Sure, it is not wrong to depend on naturalised players as many countries are doing it.
However, a country inherently short on quality like Malaysia should really focus on developing their own talent by strengthening its foundation, not just go for foreign-flavour topping.
In this aspect, the National Football Development Programme (NFDP) is seen as a good initiative in grooming young players from seven to 17 years old.
Under the programme, Malaysia's best players are sent to Europe to play in club-level tournaments to gain exposure.
But sadly, the NFDP came out short in the long term. The first batch of its graduates couldn't make much headway in their careers because there was no roadmap for them after they finished school.
Most of them are rotting away at M-League clubs, some even playing for feeder teams. These players should have been sent for long-term attachments with lower-tier clubs in Europe, Japan and South Korea.
This is a pity as the government had invested so much in these players.
"Japan may have naturalised players in their World Cup teams, but they did not forget about development," said a well-travelled coach, who had stints with several clubs in Asia.
"They used to send their young players to clubs in Europe and South America for attachments about 25 years ago. Japanese companies were paying the players' salaries when they were abroad.
"Through the initiative, some Japanese players were eventually signed by European clubs, while those who did not make it, still became stars in the J-League.
"Now, Japan do not have to do that because their players have quality. Today, we see Japanese players between the ages of 20 and 22 earning contracts with European clubs.
"China is now following in Japan's footsteps. Although the Chinese League is one of the richest in Asia, most of their clubs do not focus on development. That is the reason they have naturalised players now.
"But China will improve as they are sending their youth footballers abroad, especially to Portugal, for training stints."
When asked about FAM's naturalisation policy, the coach said Malaysia are getting "football rejects".
"I am not trying to imply that Malaysia shouldn't have naturalised players. But top quality foreign-born players would not choose Malaysia if they can play for France or Brazil.
"I can tell you that Malaysian players do not like to see foreign players carrying Malaysian passports. The locals see them as a threat.
"However, I have a soft spot for mixed-heritage players. If they are half-Malaysians, they should not be treated as foreigners. Let them play their football here.
"Malaysia are now ambitious but if they want to break into Asia and then the world, they need top-quality foreign-born players, not rejects.
"This, however, should only be a short-term solution. They should also develop local players. NFDP is a good project but the academy players do not go out much as before for exposure.
"Basically, football development in most Southeast Asia countries is very poor. They are not well planned and their programmes will change whenever a new regime takes over.
"When there is no continuity, the entire system will fail. The NFDP has failed in its cause as its first batch of graduates are now struggling to progress.
"These players should have been sent for attachments in Europe, not to some half-baked clubs in Malaysia," he said.
The coach praised former national youth player Hadi Fayyadh Razak for moving to Japan's J2 League side Fagiano Okayama, saying he is a player with a big dream.
"He is in the second year of his contract, and this is good for his progress. Whether he makes it or not, he will definitely become a better forward," he added.