KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must play against countries ranked higher to improve its ranking in the FIFA list said Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.
Unfortunately though, teams ranked higher are not keen to play against lower ranked teams, including Malaysia, said Tengku Abdullah when asked to comment on the drastic drop in the national team’s ranking.
In the latest list released by FIFA, Malaysia are ranked 156 in the FIFA world ranking, sliding eight places from January when Malaysia were ranked 148, February (150) and March (152).
“Teams lower than our ranking are also keen to play against higher ranked teams to improve their ranking. So whether we like it or not we have to play against higher ranked teams and win, to improve our ranking,” he said after launching UFL Sdn Bhd’s latest fitness machine called Power Plate My7 here yesterday.
The 156th place is seen as Malaysia’s worst in the history and underlines suspended FAM deputy president Tan Sri Annuar Musa’s concern about the national teams capability.
“If the players and team management does not know the implication of the current ranking, especially the players, it will be a big blow to the image of the country’s football.
“If we are not among the top 100 teams, our players will never get a chance to play in Europe,” he said Tengku Abdullah adding that the national squad must aim to excel in other major competitions and not just concentrate on regional tournaments.
“We need to set a target, say the top 10 teams in Asia first. Only then can be compete against bigger teams,” he said. — Bernama