KUALA LUMPUR: Paulo Josue is no ordinary foreign-born footballer. He has distinguished himself in both the national team and the M-League.

Malaysian fans remember Josue as the man who passed the ball to Romel Morales to score the stoppage time equaliser in the sensational 3-3 draw against mighty South Korea in the Asian Cup in Doha last year.

And KL fans remember Josue as the man who helped the City Boys upstage mighty Johor Darul Ta'zim in the 2021 Malaysia Cup final.

Josue, who came from Canela, Brazil, is KL City's all time top scorer with 77 goals across all competitions since joining them in 2017.

Even with such a stellar record, the naturalised Josue admitted that the competition for a place in Malaysia's starting 11 is getting tougher. But the midfielder is determined to get selected for the Asian Cup Group F qualifier against Vietnam on June 10.

However, Josue acknowledged the challenge of getting a place in the national team as more younger and newly naturalised players are expected to join Harimau Malaya.