PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s naturalised playmaker Sergio Aguero is among a rare few who have answered national duty even though it is outside the FIFA international calendar.
The Argentinian will be one of the key players in the Harimau Malaya gearing up for the AFF Hyundai Cup starting tomorrow.
Malaysia are drawn in Group B alongside Thailand, the Philippines, Myanmar and Laos.
They open their campaign against Myanmar in Yangon tomorrow, before facing Laos at the Cheras Football Stadium on July 28.
The next two fixtures, against Thailand and the Philippines, will be held at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok and the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium on Aug 1 and 8 respectively.
Aguero said the preparation had been good.
“When the call-up came, I immediately said yes because it is a pleasure to play for Malaysia,” said the 32-year-old naturalised Argentinian, who has won 19 caps and scored three goals for Malaysia.
“Ten days is good enough to prepare for the tournament.
“We have a good group – we play against each other every year in the league.
“We don’t have all our main squad players available due to the tournament being out of the FIFA calendar, but we will go with the maximum we can. Reaching the final would be good,” he said.
Having last played for Thai club Kanchanaburi Power, Aguero said he was familiar with several of the players in Malaysia’s group opponents, Thailand.
“They (the Thailand league players) know me and I know them. We’ll see how it goes. I felt good during my time there,” he added.