Datuk Noor Azman Rahman, General Secretary of Football Association of Malaysia revealed FAM will hold Merdeka Tournament 2024 in September and are expected to face top-ranked teams.
Malaysia just missed a chance to play in FIFA World Cup 2026 Asian Qualifiers round 3 and does not have a schedule to play in the next 3 windows of FIFA Day in September, October, and November 2024. and need to play friendly matches in their 3 windows to prepare to attend in AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers round 3 in March 2025.
GS FAM said the teams to be invited for the tournament will be those from Pot 1 and Pot 2 of the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers to prepare the national squad under the guidance of Kim Pan-Gon for the prestigious cup qualifiers.
“We will organise the Merdeka Tournament by inviting four teams, and it will be held in September. But we haven’t decided which teams yet. We will send out invitations next month.” he said at a press conference after the 11th FAM Executive Committee Meeting at Wisma FAM here today.
“We will likely invite teams from Pot 1 and Pot 2 (2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers) since we already know the unofficial Pot 1 and Pot 2 teams available on social media,”
“It is a good result although we were not fortunate enough to reach the next stage. However, in terms of points and winning against lower-ranked teams, we did well. Drawing with Kyrgyzstan was a good achievement,”
Commenting on the status of Pan Gon, Yusoff said the South Korean coach will continue to lead the Harimau Malaya squad until his contract expires next year.
Source : BERNAMA
Credit Photo : Jayden Seah/SNE-Photo
