JOHOR BARU, Oct 23 — Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), which was crowned Super League champions for the fifth times in a row, needs at least two years more to be a power on the Asian stage which is now ruled by teams from Japan, South Korea and the Middle East.

Its owner, Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim said, although the Southern Tiger squad had qualified for the highest competition for clubs in Asia, namely, Asian Champions League (ACL) for next season, he wanted to be realistic and did not place high hopes on the competition.

Taking Thai League 1 seven-time champions, Burinam United as an example, Tunku Ismail who is the Tunku Mahkota of Johor (TMJ) said, the team had begun its development project six years earlier than JDT.

"Same goes to Muangthong United, Chonburi FC...I admire the Thai League a lot, because for me I do not like to see Serie A, La Liga all, I want to see my neighbour. I think they are a doing tremendous job by scouting for young talents, developing young players, giving them good exposure, playing at good levels and having top class facilities.

"If you look at an army or navy team in Thailand, it has better facilities than any Super League team here...So they put the money in the right place and I hope we in Malaysia somehow copy this and try to follow what is right,” he told a media conference after a meeting with the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM) exco here.

"If you look at talent, we have talents, if you talk about professionalism, we are moving towards it...But I think the management has to somehow be more professional. Right now I can only see teams like Terengganu, PKNS FC and us who are really putting in something, not only investing inside the pitch but also outside the pitch,” he added.

The Southern Tiger squad advanced to ACL after emerging as the 2018 Super League champions, after the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) gave an automatic qualification slot to ACL for Malaysia for the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

Commenting further, TMJ said he was very proud at the success of qualifying to ACL, whereby the players of the team, especially young players like Muhammad Safawi Rasid, Adam Nor Azlin, Muhamad Nazmi Faiz Mansor, Mohamed Syamer Kutty Abba, Muhammad Syafiq Ahmad and Dominic Tan had the chance to play at the highest level in Asia.

‘‘We give them the exposure and opportunity to play with the best players. They can learn a lot and god willing it is not only for the good of the club but also for the national team. So, it is a win-win situation for Malaysian football by having JDT participating in ACL,’’ he said.

To further strengthen the team for the ACL competition and Malaysian League next season, Tunku Ismail said JDT had identified several imported players, but the time had not come to announce their names.

Meanwhile, TMJ was also confident that the team’s defender, Mauricio dos Santos Nascimento was capable of the heavy task in the defensive line-up which was vacated by his compatriot, Marcos Antonio.

The 30-year-old player from Sao Paulo, Brazil, had experience playing for renowned European teams such as Lazio (Itali), Spartak Moscow (Rusia) and Sporting Lisbon (Portugal).

"Marcos was a very experienced and very intelligent player, he was the best defender in the country for the last four years...You can look at the statistics. To replace him, we need a defender who is more robust, aggressive and dynamic, better when it comes to pace and strength. Experience is very important, I do not want anyone coming in who is aged below 27 and over 31.

"So that is why we get Mauricio, he has not played for normal clubs. He did not get much games because of change of coaches, as certain coaches have priorities for certain players. I think that is how we managed to convince him to come here.

"To have a player playing in Serie A side, Lazio, which is not a normal team, to come here and willing to play for a club and a league in Malaysia, for me it is an asset, an achievement. It is a big step,” he said. — Bernama