New naturalized player eagerly awaits debut for Malaysian national team

Kuala Lumpur City's Australian player, Giancarlo Gallifuoco, is still awaiting the completion of his naturalization process. This defender is extremely excited at the prospect of representing the Malaysian national team.

"Many things are still in process. But as of now, nothing is finalized," said Gallifuoco, who has fulfilled FIFA's 5-year residency requirement in Malaysia.

"So I will wait for that first. Obviously, if the opportunity arises, I would be immensely honored to step up and accept that challenge."

Gallifuoco recently helped Kuala Lumpur City secure a spot in the Malaysia Cup semifinals with a 3-2 aggregate victory over Terengganu.

He is expected to perform similarly when facing Terengganu at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium today.

Kuala Lumpur City will meet Terengganu for the third time in just three weeks. Previously, they defeated this team 3-2 on aggregate to advance to the Malaysia Cup semifinals.

"We have our own identity, we have the playing style the coach wants. Now it's just about maintaining that," Gallifuoco said as Kuala Lumpur aims to extend their unbeaten away run in this season's Super League.

"But now I feel the remaining seven matches of the league are about resilience. How we continue to optimize everything we can. I think it's crucial to know how to manage and endure."

The 4-0 victory over Brunei's DPMM last Sunday in Cheras came at the perfect time for Kuala Lumpur, marking their second win in eight matches and moving them up to third place in the standings with 33 points.

"Scoring four goals and keeping a clean sheet, that was fantastic. I think we've gone five matches unbeaten now. That was one of those games where we had six chances and scored four," shared Gallifuoco, who is just two appearances away from reaching 100 games for Kuala Lumpur.

"There have been matches where we had 20 chances and didn't score any. So everything clicked perfectly this time. Hopefully we can maintain this momentum."

Gallifuoco will continue his duel with Terengganu forward Gervane Kastaneer, after getting the better of the Curaçaoan striker in the Malaysia Cup quarterfinals.

"He is a good player. I really enjoy competing against him. He's fast, strong, and has excellent technique. We're talking about a player who will be at the World Cup with Curaçao.

"I feel I had the upper hand in the last two matches. But I don't want to say anything silly and jinx it!"