PETALING JAYA, Nov 18 — It was not the entrance national striker Safee Sali had in mind.
Just as he replaced Azamuddin Akil in the 70th minute, Bahrain’s Ismaeel Abdul-Latif scored the solitary goal (71st minute) of the match in the Asian Cup qualifying match last Friday.
“Suwey betul la (what bad luck),” was Safee’s immediate reaction.
“I’m not happy at all. I entered the field and our opponents scored. I don’t want to see such a thing happening again.”
While the critics had plenty to say about Malaysia’s performance in Manama, Safee defended the performance of his teammates.
“We played well. We restricted Bahrain’s movements and our players gave their all on the field. It is just that Bahrain took their chances well and they scored.”
Safee is now raring to play the main role when Harimau Malaya host Qatar in another qualification match at Shah Alam Stadium tomorrow(8.45pm).
The odds seem to stack against the national team. According to Fifa’s head-to- -head statistics, Malaysia have yet to defeat Qatar on the six occasions both teams met. Qatar won three matches and settled for a draw in the remaining three matches.
Qatar have nine points, a point shy of Group D leaders Bahrain. Malaysia have four points while Yemen sit at the bottom, having yet to net any points.
Safee, who has yet to ink a deal with Selangor, believes Malaysia’s standard of play is now comparable to the likes of teams from the Middle East.
The national players underwent light training at Wisma FAM yesterday.
“I hope to start against Qatar. If given the chance I would like to make amends and aid the team to secure full points.
“The team is spirited and we are confident playing against Qatar. We still have a shot to qualify (for the 2015 Asian Cup).”
“Our level of play is quite similar to that of Middle Eastern nations. So nothing is impossible. I hope the fans will continue to give their full support to the team.”
