Coach for the National Football Team Martin Koopman has stated that it could be possible to deliver surprising results at the upcoming FIFA World Cup and AFC Asian Cup Joint Qualifiers.
Matches for Maldives' group in the AFC Cup Joint Qualifiers have been scheduled to take place in China between 30 May and 15 June. While a preliminary national squad of 33 players had camped for training at Hotel Jen by Shangri-la in Maldives, FAM have revealed that 25 players who test negative for Covid-19 will permitted to join the final squad departing for China.
However, National football legend Ali Ashfaq (Dhagandey) and promising young defender Ali Shamis (Thoppey) have tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, and will not be joining the national team in China. Instead, they have extracted themselves from the national team's pre-qualifiers camp, and will be quarantining for a period of 10 days in Dubai, raising questions about their chances of joining the team for the qualifiers.
In an interview during the national team's training camp in Dubai, coach Martin Koopman stated that the team needed to train extensively to prepare for the matches ahead, adding that they must be extra cuatios of injuries as the team had not been able to train properly in Maldives beforehand.
The Maldives National Football Team has not played a single official match since Coach Koopman took over the team in January last year. While Koopman's contract has been extended by an additional three years, the first match team Maldives will play under his guidance will be the Jun 3 match with China in the qualifiers.
Prior to kick-off, Coach Martin Koopman stated that he was proud to coach the Maldives' national football team, and stated that even faced with pressing challenges, there was a possibility the team could deliver surprising results. While in Male', the national team had been forced to practice in the ballroom inside Hotel Jen by Shangri-La due to Covid-19 health and safety restriction's across the Maldives' capital.
As the national team was unable to train properly in the Maldives, the squad had camping camped Dubai for 10 days ahead of the AFC Cup Joint Qualifiers in China. The team is expected to depart to China sometime on Sunday.
Maldives has three matches left to play in the qualifiers against China, Syria and Philippines, with the match against Syria designated as a home match for Maldives. Syria is ranked first with 15 points from five matches played, and China follows in second from seven points won through four matches. Maldives is currently fourth in the qualifiers group after having won six points from four matches played. Philippines follows in third with seven points from five matches. Guam trails in fifth behind Maldives, with no points earned from five matches played.
