According to New Straits Time, the Malaysian team often has difficulty choosing opponents for friendly matches. Because strong teams are not interested in competing with a team currently ranked 131th in the world. Therefore, when the Cape Verde team, ranked 72nd in the world, agreed to play a friendly match with the Malaysian team for 2 matches, fans should be happy.
This is a huge achievement for the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) when it invited Cape Verde to compete, giving the Malaysian national players the opportunity to compete with a strong team.
As an island nation with a population of only 596,000 people, Cape Verde has produced stars such as Logan Costa (playing for La Liga Villarreal), Dailon Livramento ( Serie A Verona) and Bryan Teixeira (Bundestag's Magdeburg club), the leading Malaysian newspaper commented.
According to the schedule, Malaysia will play two matches with Cape Verde on May 29 and June 3. According to former Malaysian football player and expert Hasnizam Uzir, the two matches against this West African team will assess the readiness of the Malaysian team before the match against the Vietnamese team on June 10.
He said: "This friendly match requires Malaysian players to make every effort. The physical strength and high intensity of the Cape Verde team will help the Malaysian team when facing a strong team in Southeast Asia, the Vietnamese team.
Meanwhile, football critic Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli said that the matches against Cape Verde bring a rare and valuable opportunity for Malaysia to play against a world-class team.
He said: "The Cape Verde team was ranked 27th in the world in 2014, an impressive achievement. They are the opponent that brings the challenge that the Malaysian team wants. Although they are ranked 72nd in the world, they are also an opponent that Malaysia rarely meets in friendly matches.
The Cape Verde team played impressively at the 2024 African Cup. They defeated championship candidate Myanmar 2-1 in the group stage and only lost to South Africa after a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals.
The Malaysian team started the 2027 Asian Cup qualifying campaign with a 2-0 victory over Nepal in March 2025, while the Vietnamese team soon made their mark with a 5-0 victory over Laos.
Therefore, the direct confrontation with the Vietnam team at home on June 10 will be important for the Malaysia team's chance to continue.
