KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — Harimau Malaya head coach Peter Cklamovski, whose contract with the national football team ends this year, has hinted at his willingness to continue to guide the team despite their failure to qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup Finals.

He admitted to being extremely disappointed, especially since it (their failure to qualify) was due to factors beyond the team’s control, including the issue involving several players.

However, his long-term vision hasn’t changed: to take Malaysia to the World Cup Finals.

“Since arriving here, I have truly fallen in love with this country. Working with the players and coaching staff has been a great experience for me. I guess 12 months ago, I sat here for the first time in front of all you guys and said there was a long-term vision to get to a World Cup.

“Also said there’d be a short-term goal to get to the Asian Cup. Now, that’s been ripped away from us... completely something that we can’t control. So, there’s a bit of heartache to sort of process through that disappointment,” he told reporters after the team’s training session here today.

The Harimau Malaya squad are preparing for their last Group F fixture against Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers at the Thien Truong Stadium in Ninh Binh on March 31.

The Australian coach said the Harimau Malaya squad will train in Bangkok from tomorrow until Friday (March 27), before heading for Nam Dinh the following day.

Meanwhile, Cklamovski said the reason Johor Darul Ta’zim’s (JDT) Bergson da Silva and Kuala Lumpur City FC’s Giancarlo Gallifuoco were not listed for the match against Vietnam was due to late registration.

The two Super League import players were supposed to join the latest centralised training camp after reportedly completing their five-year stay in Malaysia in accordance with FIFA’s naturalisation regulations.

“… basically, Bergson and Giancarlo, I got updated that their registration won’t be done in time for them to be available for the game.

“Meanwhile, Nacho Mendez (of JDT)... I think everyone would have seen him coming off injured in his last game a few days ago. So, again, an easy one for me that he’s unavailable through injury,” he said. — Bernama