HARIMAU MALAYA WILL BE PLAYING FOR NATIONAL PRIDE AGAINST VIETNAM - LAMBERT

KUALA LUMPUR, March 29 (Bernama) -- Harimau Malaya wingback Declan Lambert admits that he and his teammates will be playing for national pride when they take on Vietnam in their last Group F match in the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Nam Dinh on Tuesday (March 31).

This, he said, is because Malaysia are already out of the running for the 2027 Asian Cup Finals, although he was quick to add that it hasn't stopped the players from giving it their everything in training to impress the coaching staff.

“It’s a tough one to take (being out of the Finals), but it’s still an important game for us to show that we can still compete against - and beat - these teams despite us being out. (It’s) also to show our pride as Malaysians,” he said in a video clip shared by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) with the media today.

Malaysia’s hopes of featuring in the Asian Cup Finals on merit for the second consecutive time were dashed after being docked points by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

Vietnam, meanwhile, have qualified for the 2027 Asian Cup Finals, leading Group F with 15 points, followed by Malaysia in second spot with nine points. Laos and Nepal are third and fourth, respectively, with three points each.

Recently, the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Committee found that FAM had breached Article 56 of the AFC Disciplinary and Ethics Code for fielding ineligible players in two Asian Cup 2027 qualifying matches against Nepal and Vietnam.

-- BERNAMA