Malaysia revealed the reason for inviting Vietnam to the 2023 Merdeka Cup tournament

Recently, the Malaysian Football Federation has closed the plan to organize the friendly tournament Merdeka Cup 2023. The tournament will be held in September this year with the guest teams being Vietnam, Thailand, Syria and Palestine.

This announcement has generated many questions from fans. Notably, in the case of the Indonesian team, the team also made significant progress under the Korean coach but was not invited to attend. In the daily Harian Metro, Mr. Mohd Mohamed, Chairman of the Competition Committee of the Malaysian Football Federation, revealed the reason for inviting Vietnam and Thailand to attend this tournament.

The official said: “I personally see in Southeast Asia, only Thailand and Vietnam really have a style and play style that is close to the level of the continent. If you look at their performance in the tournament. The recent AFF Cup, it can be seen that they are teams that can reach Asia.

We want this tournament to be really quality and competitive, thereby getting the best preparation for the Asian Cup. Therefore, we have decided to invite these two teams.”

The FAM Vice President also revealed that the format at the 2023 Merdeka Cup may be similar to Thailand’s King’s Cup, ie 4 teams will draw to determine two semi-final pairs, choose two winners for the final, and two teams. The loser will play the bronze medal match.

This statement is like rubbing salt in Indonesia. Bola.net, a famous sports site in Indonesia, has an article: “The opponents invited to the Merdeka Cup all have higher rankings than Malaysia, which are Syria (90), Palestine (93), Vietnam (96). ) and Thailand (111), and also have a higher position than Indonesia on the FIFA rankings”

The Merdeka Cup was held for the first time in 1957. In the tournament’s history, the Indonesian team has won 3 times and 4 times as runners-up. Host Malaysia won 10 titles, followed by South Korea with 7 and Myanmar with 4 titles.

The Vietnamese team won this tournament in 2008. That year, the U22 team under the guidance of coach Hoang Van Phuc won a dramatic victory over the home team.

Attending the Merdeka Cup will help Vietnam prepare well for the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign in Asia under the new coach. On the occasion of FIFA Days in March, Vietnam Tel is also expected to have one or two friendly matches to introduce the new head coach.