JOHOR BAHRU: Malayan Tigers skipper Dion Cools feels that he has gone through a positive change and grown into a better player after playing with the national team.
The player with a Belgian-Malaysian parentage said the responsibility he has been carrying while representing the national squad since June 2021, has given him a new experience that he was not able to achieve at the club level.
“I think so (becoming a better player), it brings a lot of responsibility to play for Malaysia, you experience something new that you don’t experience when playing for the club.
“So yeah, for sure I am more matured through these games and yes, I would say it’s a positive experience,” he told a pre-match press conference ahead of a Tier 1 international friendly against Turkmenistan tomorrow night, here today.
Cools joined the national squad which was then coached by former coach Tan Cheng Hoe to face the second round of the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup Qualifying campaign.
The 27-year-old Buriram United player has scored one goal on the international stage so far which was when Malaysia beat Bangladesh 4-1 in the 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Kuala Lumpur last June, to help the team qualify for the prestigious tournament.
Meanwhile, the former Belgium’s Club Brugge player said the team had a very good centralised training camp ahead of two friendly matches against Turkmenistan tomorrow night and Hong Kong (March 28) at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium in Iskandar Puteri.
“I’ve seen the team doing very well, the new players are adapting well, so I’m looking forward to two games because I feel we got quality in this squad, I believe we can be better in every game we play,” he said.
Cools is one of the big names who did not play for the national team in the 2022 ASEAN Football Federation Cup (AFF) campaign which saw the Malayan Tigers eliminated in the semi-finals.
Ahead of the matches against Turkmenistan and Hong Kong, head coach Kim Pan Gon has 27 players to choose from including nine players who played in the AFF Cup 2022 and strengthened by eight new faces such as two naturalised players Paulo Josue and Endrick Dos Santos, young defender Muhamad Feroz Baharudin and Nooa Laine.
Laine, 21, who is of Malaysian-Finnish parentage, plays in midfield for Finnish professional club SJK Seinajoki - Bernama
