Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) today revealed the complete three teams that have indicated their interest to participate in a four-nation tournament in Kuala Lumpur during the next FIFA international calendar dates which fall between March 18-26.
The 119th ranked New Zealand last appeared on the World Cup stage in the 2010 edition that was held in South Africa. In that tournament, they held their own to complete their group matches without a single defeat nor wins. They are currently coached by Fritz Schmid, who was previously on the books of FAM as the technical director.
Among the three teams, Oman are the highest ranked in 90th position and only recently participated in the 2019 Asian Cup. In that tournament, they finished third in the group behind Japan and Uzbekistan but earned enough points to finish among the best third placed teams. Their run were however stopped in the Round of 16 by an impressive Iran side.
Last but not least, Singapore will be a familiar face for Malaysian fans. The Singaporean side had a dismal 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup campaign where they finished third behind Thailand and Philippines to exit the competition in the group stage. Still ranked higher than Malaysia in 165th spot, the team coached by Fandi Ahmad will undoubtedly provide stiff competition.
FAM are waiting on all three teams to accept the regulations of the tournament before confirming that these are the teams competing in the tournament. After a successful Suzuki Cup campaign where Malaysia finished runners-up, FAM have up the ante by seeking out higher ranked opposition to give Tan Cheng Hoe a new sort of test ahead of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers that will start in the middle of the year.
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