Same old situation
Vingada faces shortage of strikers for national team
PETALING JAYA: Welcome to Malaysian football, Mr Vingada.
National coach Eduardo Vingada is facing the same problems that beset his predecessors – Datuk Ong Kim Swee, Dollah Salleh and Datuk K. Rajagopal. And that is?
The dearth of strikers for the national team.
After 14 rounds of the Super League season, the foreign legion are again dominating the goal-scoring chart.
Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) midfielder Safiq Rahim is the top local scorer with eight goals. In contrast, his JDT team-mate, Mohamad Ghaddar of Lebanon has netted 20 goals.
Veterans Safee Sali (PKNS) and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha ( Felda United) have scored four goals each while younger strikers Ahmad Hazwan Bakri (JDT) and Syafiq Ahmad ( Kedah) have notched only three goals each.
The 64-year-old Vingada, however, believes he might have a solution – his coaching staff is looking at some of the foreign players to see if they have Malaysian passports.
“We are looking for a striker, but it’s not easy to find one. This is because most of the teams use mostly foreign strikers in the M-League,” Vingada told a press conference at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya yesterday.
“I need someone (striker) strong, quick and can score. Our options are limited, more so now that Safee is injured.
“We are looking at the best option in the country and even from outside. One example is Belgian youth player Dion Cools. He will be good for us if he wants to play for Malaysia.”
Cools, whose father is a Belgian and mother a Malaysian, plays for Club Brugge in Belgium and has represented Belgium’s youth teams (Under-18 to Under-21).
Vingada’s first match in charge of the national team ended in a disappointing 2-1 home defeat to Lebanon in their 2019 Asian Cup Group B qualifying match on June 13.
The Portuguese coach expects the national team to be in better shape for their second Group B match against Hong Kong in Melaka on Sept 5.
The national team are scheduled to play three friendlies – against Syria (Aug 22), Macau (Aug 25) and Myanmar ( Aug 29) – before the Hong Kong match.
“We are trying to confirm the match against Syria, who will be in Malaysia for their Asian Cup qualifying match. They are a higher-ranked team and it will be good to play against them,” said Vingada.