Former national team head coach B. Sathianathan believes that going abroad to pursue a football career, isn’t a step that can be easily taken by Malaysian footballers.
Local players have been criticized by fans for not wanting to expand their horizons by testing themselves in bigger and better leagues, but as far as Sathia is concerned, there is more to this than meets the eye.
“Firstly, we must consider the Europe countries, as their leagues only take players from certain countries based on their rankings,” he told Harian Metro.
“Besides that, there is also the quality issue of our players. Which country is willing to risk it? Just try to even name few local players who are better than the current players in the national squad.”
“I’m not even surprised when coach Dollah Salleh was complaining about the lack of quality players, because I have been through the same situation before,” he told Arena Metro.
“Some of them even commented on our inability to participate in the ASEAN league, but do they realize that the salary here is much higher? When it comes to wages, Malaysian league players earn much more compared to players in the ASEAN league. That is why players are unable to leave the comfort of their home to participate in other leagues.”
According to Sathianathan, the crucial thing here is for teams in the Super or Premier league to have their own “Young Tigers” team, and not just for the sake of it.
“We already have a President Cup team, but how many of them are worthy of the national contingent? Attention has to be given to these young players because they are the ones who will carry our country’s challenge in the future.”
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