KUALA LUMPUR, July 15 — The men’s national football team is set to take on Bahrain in a friendly match in Manama, Bahrain on October 2, provided they get the green light from the Malaysian government to fly out, said Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) secretary-general Stuart Ramalingam.
He said the Harimau Malaya team would use the friendly against world No. 99 Bahrain as a warm-up before its 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers Group G match against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Dubai on October 8.
He acknowledged that FAM would need to get the government’s approval to fly to Manama due to the travel restrictions put in place to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The friendly had earlier been scheduled for March 21 but was shelved due to the pandemic and world No. 154 Malaysia last played against Bahrain away in the 2015 Asian Cup qualifying round, losing 1-0.
“FAM and the Bahrain FA recently reached a verbal agreement to hold the friendly in Manama. National head coach Tan Cheng Hoe is expected to call up the players for centralised training a week before the team leaves for Bahrain,” Stuart told Bernama recently.
After taking on the UAE, Malaysia is set to entertain Vietnam at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on October 13 before completing its fixtures against Thailand in Bangkok on November 17.
Malaysia is now second in the Group G standings with nine points after five matches, with Vietnam leading the way with 11 points, followed by Thailand (eight points), the UAE (six points, but with a match in hand), and Indonesia propping up the group with no points.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) had suspended all the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup second qualifying round matches since March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. — Bernama
