Preparing for the match against Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, the Malaysian team has called up 31 players. They started the first training phase on May 18. After that, coach Peter Cklamovski dropped some young players and welcomed more stars to start the second phase of training.
With the goal of competing for the top spot with the Vietnamese team, the Malaysian team has called up the strongest squad, including adding a number of naturalized players. One of them is defender Gabriel Palmero, who plays for Tenerife in Spain. Peter Cklamovski confirmed that Palermo had gathered.
Palermo is 23 years old this year, playing as a left-back. Gabriel has gathered after a season playing in Europe. His condition is very good. Gabriel wants to play for Malaysia. He is gradually adapting after a long flight and wants to play to make the Malaysian people proud, said Peter Cklamovski.
Unlike Palermo, the naturalized Argentine striker Rodrigo Holgado is not present. Holgado is 30 years old this year, playing professionally in Colombia and is valued at 800,000 Euros. This season, he has played 20 matches, scored 8 goals and had 2 assists for his home club.
There is no guarantee that Holgado will play against the Vietnamese team. His naturalization application is still in the process of being finalized, the Malaysia coach added.
According to the schedule, the Malaysian team will have 2 friendly matches against the Cape Verde team on May 29 and 3, to complete the squad, to play against the Vietnamese team. Malaysia's opponent is ranked 72nd in the world and has many players playing in Europe.
In this training session, the Malaysian team also has the participation of a number of other stars such as Dion Cools ( buriram United) and Hector Hevel ( portimonense).
Hevel is a player of the 3 bloodlines of the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia. He is the most anticipated player in the Malaysia squad.
Having played in the Netherlands, Cyprus and Spain, Hevel opened the scoring in the win over Nepal and was considered by coach Cklamovski to be the "conductor" in Malaysia's playing style.
The list also includes many notable foreign-born players such as Matthew Davies (Australia), Corbin-Ong (Barbados), and naturalized players such as Romel Morales ( colombia) or Paulo Josue (Brazil).
