Naturalized Malaysian star: 'Meeting Vietnam team is like a second chance'

Sumareh, the winger for the national team, confessed that his journey in the 2026 ASEAN Cup has been quite distinct from before.

Having been both highly praised and fiercely criticized by Malaysian football fans, Sumareh feels grateful that all the fans have started to give him strong support again, especially after the team secured a place in the regional tournament semifinals with a 1-0 win over the Philippines in Cheras.

The Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) player also sees this as a fresh opportunity to prove that he can still be an attacking threat that opposing defenses must fear, just as before.

"I have been at the highest and lowest points," he told Astro Arena reporter Kamal Nizam.

"I have been at the highest point, where I was praised, and the lowest point, where I was truly like being killed.

Now, that no longer affects me. Whenever I am praised, it doesn't affect me, and when I am criticized, it also doesn't affect me.

TMJ (JDT owner Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim) once told me that football always gives you a second chance, and now I understand that this is a second chance for me to stand up and win back the hearts of the fans, to bring them back to my side. And look, they are now supporting me all the time.

But I remain humble because that could change at any time, and I have enough experience to realize that everything can change.

I am happy that they have come back to show their affection and support for me, but the mission is not yet complete; we still have a semifinal to go through.

In the semifinals, anything can happen; we cannot know in advance. For example, no one thought we would reach the semifinals, and now we are here, so let's see how we get through it.

In the last 18 encounters since 2005, the Vietnam team has won 14, drawn 2, and lost only 2 matches against Malaysia.

Specifically in the ASEAN Cup, the two teams have met 11 times, with 7 wins for Vietnam, 2 draws, and 2 losses. The last time Malaysia defeated Vietnam in a recognized head-to-head result was in the 2014 ASEAN Cup semifinal, when they won 4-2.