KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 — The national football team that qualified on merit for the 2023 Asian Cup received strong support from the Tunku Mahkota of Johor (TMJ) Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim, said Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin.

Hamidin said Tunku Ismail, who is also the owner of Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) club, gave strong support behind the scene.

He said JDT’s glorious success in qualifying in the knockout round of the AFC Champions League (ACL) was also an inspiration to FAM to ensure that Harimau Malaya followed the same footsteps to attain historic achievements.

"Although many of their fans have other perceptions, I did speak to Tunku that we (FAM) also want to join JDT who qualified (for ACL) for the first time.

"... and I see (at this time) many teams have improved to follow JDT or Selangor and Kedah in producing quality players and good infrastructure,” he said when met recently.

On Tuesday, Malaysia ended a 42-year wait to qualify on merit for the Asian Cup after finishing second in Group E of the 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers, thus advancing as one of the top five runners-up from six groups.

In the qualifiers held at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, Kim Pan Gon’s squad started on the right foot when they beat Turkmenistan 3-1 before losing to Bahrain 1-2 and thrashing Bangladesh 4-1 in the final group match.

For the record, the last time Malaysia played in the Asian Cup was in the 2007 edition when they co-hosted, but have failed to qualify on merit for more than four decades since the 1980 edition in Kuwait. — Bernama