KUALA LUMPUR, May 30 — Harimau Malaya head coach Tan Cheng Hoe intends to use the new few days working on rectifying the team’s weaknesses as they prepare for their opening match in the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup second round qualifiers against hosts the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Dubai on Thursday (June 3).
Cheng Hoe admitted that they had no choice but to bounce back from their two defeats in the friendlies against Kuwait and Bahrain before their date against the UAE at the Zabeel Stadium.
“We can see from the two (friendly) matches how they are beginning to gel as a unit but, of course, much more can still be done to improve, like in terms of their passing and final decision-making,” he said in an online media conference from Manama, Bahrain today.
In the two international friendlies, Malaysia lost 4-1 to Kuwait in Dubai on May 23 and 2-0 to Bahrain at the Bahrain National Stadium in Riffa yesterday.
Cheng Hoe said he and his other coaches planned to work on the team’s defending and other tactical aspects.
He said this was because the defence clearly failed to properly deal with their opponents’ attacks in the two friendlies, adding that some individual mistakes also stood out like a sore thumb.
“We were quite leaky in the two matches, that’s rather obvious. But it happened due to individual mistakes and I feel that can be fixed. We hope that whoever is fielded will be 100 per cent focused in the crucial game against the UAE,” Cheng Hoe said.
Meanwhile, midfielder Brendan Gan said that although the UAE would be fielding some new players, he still expects a tough time from them as they will have hom ground advantage.
Brendan urged his teammates to have faith in their own abilities and focus on improving their game as the Harimau Malaya seek to win their three remaining Group G second round matches in the qualifiers and make the cut for the 2023 Asian Cup Finals and advance to the third round of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers.
Brendan, however, will not play against the UAE as he will have to sit out a one-match suspension after picking up two yellow cards previously in the qualifying campaign. — Bernama
