Football

Malaysia slip to all-time low of 175th in Fifa rankings

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia slipped one spot to an all-time low of 175th in the latest Fifa rankings issued on Thursday.

This comes despite the fact that the national team has not played a match since losing to North Korea in two Asian Cup qualifiers in Buriram, Thailand last November.

Malaysia had been at No 174 for the last two months, which matched the country's previous low first reached in April and May 2016.

Among Asean nations, Malaysia rank eighth with only Laos, Brunei and Timor Leste lower.

The national team's dismal standing comes on the back of a 10-match winless run since beating Cambodia 3-2 at the 2016 AFF Cup.

The run saw Portuguese Nelo Vingada quit his job as national coach following the defeats to North Korea, just six months after being hired to replace Ong Kim Swee.

Vingada left after failing to win any of the seven matches he was in charge.

Vingada's assistant Tan Cheng Hoe has since been named the new national coach and his first competitive match will be an Asian Cup qualifier against Lebanon in Beirut on Mar 27.

In the Fifa rankings, Malaysia are level on 99 points with Caribbean nations St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines as Kuwait rose 15 spots to 174th.

The latest drop comes against the backdrop of Malaysia's achievement at the AFC Under-23 Championship in China where the team coached by Kim Swee has reached the quarter-finals.

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