KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — National team striker Darren Lok prioritises team spirit over personal goals in the second round qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup/2027 Asian Cup this month.

Darren said that he is aware of the high expectations from football fans in the country who want more goals from him but he believes that making positive decisions for the national squad is more crucial, regardless of who scores.

Previously, Darren scored the winning goal for Harimau Malaya in their 1-0 victory over Taiwan, ensuring Malaysia’s top position in Group D and opening up possibilities for advancing to the next stage of the competition.

"I know my role in the national team; my commitment is to give my all for Malaysia. It doesn’t matter who scores as long as we get a good result. Whether it’s Mickey (Faisal Halim) or Messi, it’s all the same to me,” he said during a training session with the national squad at the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) headquarters in Kelana Jaya yesterday.

Malaysia, ranked 132nd in the world, are scheduled to face Oman at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat on March 21 (March 22, 2 am Malaysian time) before hosting the 80th-ranked team at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium here on March 26.

With four more matches to go, Malaysia now lead Group D with six points, followed by Oman and Kyrgyzstan, tied with three points each in second and third places respectively, while Taiwan sit at the bottom with no points.

Under the guidance of Kim Pan Gon, the team will play Nepal in a closed-door warm-up match at Wisma FAM on March 15 before departing for Muscat on March 17. — Bernama