Malaysia call up veteran midfielder who played in Spain's La Liga for Asian Cup qualifiers

Midfielder Natxo Insa plays for Levante in the 2016-2017 season. Photo by Levante

Born in 1986 in Spain, Insa developed his football skills at Valencia's academy. He played 20 La Liga matches for Valencia (2006-2007), Villarreal (2010-2011) and Celta Vigo (2012-2013). Most of his career was spent in the Segunda Division, the second tier of Spanish football, where he made 244 appearances for teams including Valencia B, Villarreal B, Celta Vigo, Real Zaragoza, AD Alcorcon and Levante.

In the 2013-2014 season, he had a brief stint in Turkey with Antalyaspor before moving to Malaysia’s top club Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT), in 2017.

Insa is eligible for Malaysian citizenship through his Malaysian-born grandmother. He made his national team debut in March 2018 in a 2-2 friendly against Mongolia, but then-coach Tan Cheng Hoe did not include him in future plans.

His second call-up came in June 2023 for the 2023 Asian Cup under coach Kim Pan-gon, but after a disappointing performance in a 0-1 loss to Bahrain, he faced heavy criticism from Malaysian fans. His recall by new head coach Peter Cklamovski has surprised the Malaysian media.

Insa is one of eight mixed-heritage players in the squad, alongside Matthew Davies (Australia), La'Vere Corbin-Ong (Barbados), Quentin Cheng (China), Daniel Ting and Stuart Wilkin (England), Dion Cools (Belgium), and Nooa Laine (Finland). Malaysia also have four naturalized players: Endrick and Paulo Josue (Brazil), Romel Morales (Colombia), and Mohamadou Sumareh (Gambia).

Another major returnee is Faisal Halim, who was seriously injured in an acid attack at a Kuala Lumpur shopping mall in May 2024. He was hospitalized for three weeks and underwent multiple surgeries. Despite the Malaysian authorities failing to find the culprit, Faisal has worked hard to regain his form. In the 2024-2025 season, he played 14 matches, accumulating 370 minutes, and impressed with a hat-trick on March 8.

Faisal Halim at a press conference on June 13, 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, in his first public appearance since the acid attack on May 5, 2024. Photo by Reuters

Cklamovski’s first squad includes only eight players from Malaysia’s 2024 ASEAN Cup team. JDT, the club that recently secured their 11th consecutive league title, contributed nine players to the national team.

Malaysia’s squad could grow further next week when Cklamovski revealed that three players are completing final naturalization procedures and could be eligible for the next call-up in June.

Malaysia will not play any friendlies before the Asian Cup qualifiers. The team will kick off the campaign on March 25 against Nepal at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium.

In group F, Malaysia are expected to compete directly with Vietnam for the top spot. The two teams will clash on June 10, 2025 in Malaysia, and again on March 31, 2026 in Vietnam.