KUALA LUMPUR – Penang FC’s newly appointed head coach, Akmal Rizal, believes that the extensive presence of foreign strikers in Malaysian football undermines the growth of local strikers, preventing them from fully reaching their potential.
The 42-year-old Akmal, a former national footballer, assumed the head coach role in January of this year after serving as the club’s assistant and under-21 coach from 2020 to early this year.
During his playing career from 1998 to 2016, Akmal was well known for his lethal finishes and sprints, which saw him score more than 100 goals in his club career.
Akmal was also one of the first Malaysian players to have a career abroad, where he had a two-year (1999-2001) stint with French clubs RC Strasbourg and FCSR Haguenau.
Speaking to Scoop, Akmal said that the overshadowing of foreign strikers in the current football landscape contributes to a high number of low-quality local strikers in recent times.
“I feel that our modern local strikers are indeed not as good as those days. It has become a challenge for coaches like myself to find a good-quality local striker because they are usually overshadowed by the imported strikers in the teams they play for.
“All clubs in the Malaysia Super League are aiming for good results, hence they opt for foreign strikers and use two to three of them ahead of their local strikers.
“Therefore, it is very hard for our Malaysian strikers to get game time, and for them to break into the starting eleven is really difficult. That’s why we are not seeing quality local strikers like in the past.
“It’s challenging for the issue to be solved in the near future, and I hope that governing bodies like the Malaysia Football League can come up with a plan to address this issue,” said Akmal when contacted.
However, the Penang FC boss is determined to make a change at his club by giving more importance to local strikers stepping into the scene and moulding them into lethal finishers in the years to come.
“I would like to do things differently at my club by giving more chances to our local strikers. That’s why I only signed one foreign striker, and I will be rotating my front line with other local players that I have.
“I’m going to use all the knowledge that I have gained over the years and make sure that my legacy stays alive by passing my knowledge to these young boys.
“They deserve a chance, and I will give them that chance. I want them to excel for both Penang FC and also the national team in the years to come,” Akmal added.
To date, the club have signed two foreign players – Brazilian-born Rodrigo Dias from Kuwait-based Khaitan Sporting Club FC and Ghanaian-born Richmond Ankrah on loan from Selangor FC.
Penang FC hold the record for winning the league three times (1982, 1998, and 2001), the FA Cup once (2002), and the Malaysia Cup four times (1953, 1954, 1958, and 1974).
This season’s Malaysia Super League campaign is expected to begin on May 10. – April 29, 2024