KUALA LUMPUR – Local football legend Datuk Dollah Salleh did not hold back on Merdeka Day when he took a swipe at Malaysians for holding naturalised players so high on a pedestal.
Without naming specific individuals, the Pahang team manager emphasised that the problem is not the inclusion of naturalised players in the Harimau Malaya squad, but rather the assumption that foreign-based players are inherently superior.
Dollah’s remarks followed recent reports about US-born player Wan Kuzain Wan Ahmad Kamal and the Netherlands’ Mats Deijl, who are expected to join the national team soon.
“I have no issues with naturalised players, especially if they are born to Malaysian parents or have strong heritage links,” Dollah said after attending the 2024 Jiwa Merdeka Subang Jaya Convoy, organised by the Subang Jaya City Council and the Former Athletes Welfare Foundation (Yakeb) yesterday.
“My issue is with the narrative that players who play or are based overseas are always better. Are they really though?
“If they are playing for top clubs in top leagues, then fine, but don’t bring in someone from a ‘kampung’ team just because they are based outside the country, and deprive them of local talent.
“Back in my day, we played against foreign players too, but we never gave them much respect. Instead, we worked extra hard to be on par,” added Dollah.
Last week, Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin confirmed that Wan Kuzain’s call-up to the national team is imminent and revealed that Deijl had also expressed interest in joining Harimau Malaya.
Wan Kuzain, the younger brother of local politician Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal, currently plays for St Louis City 2 in Missouri. Deijl, who is of mixed Malaysian-Dutch descent, plays for the Dutch Eredivisie side Go Ahead Eagles.
Separately, Dollah expressed his confusion over the reaction to former head coach Kim Pan-gon’s departure from Harimau Malaya and the appointment of Spaniard Pau Marti Vicente as acting head coach.
“We can only talk about Malaysia’s ranking going up. However, there is hardly any real achievement.
“Sure, people may argue that Kim Pan-gon took us to the Asia Cup (2023), but that was after the expansion of the tournament (from 16 to 24 teams). In terms of results, there’s nothing much to shout about.
“Now we have Pau Marti in charge; let’s see what he brings to the table. We need to give the new coach some time before judging or drawing comparisons between him and Pan-gon. Every coach is different, with their own unique style of coaching and football,” Dollah explained.
For context, South Korean Pan-gon was appointed head coach of the national team in 2022. Last month, the 55-year-old resigned citing personal reasons and has since joined Korean K-League side Ulsan HD as team manager. – September 1, 2024