Malaysia about to naturalize UEFA Champions League player

Malaysia is rushing to prepare for important matches in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Asia, the Football Association is looking for players with Malaysian background (such as having parents, grandparents from Malaysia). Currently, they are targeting the Belgian-born Dion Cools (whose mother is Malaysian), used to play for Club Brugge in the Champions League.

Dion Cool, 24, is 1.85 meters tall and plays as a right-back. The player had five seasons at Club Brugge (2015-2020), before moving to FC Midtjylland.

Malaysia is looking forward to the services of Dion Cools. However, the 24-year-old has not yet made a decision because he still hopes to play for the Belgium national team.

Earlier, Malaysia had failed to process citizenship for Marcel Kasongo Kalonda, a Congolese player. The defender, 1.88 meters tall, is expected to strengthen the steel in the defense of "tigers". However, the player could not prove his Malaysian background and was not eligible for naturalization.

Currently, Malaysia's squad consists of naturalized players Mohamadou Sumareh, Brendan Gan, Matthew Davies, La'Vere Corbin-Ong and Dominic Tan. They also completed the procedure with Kosovo original player, Liridon Krasniqi.

Malaysia is the opponent of the Vietnamese team in the upcoming match in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. Currently they are ranked 2nd in Group G with 9 points, 2 points behind Vietnam. The match between Malaysia and Vietnam will take place on November 13, 2020.