KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 — With just a week left before the AFF Cup kick-off, Harimau Malaya head coach Kim Pan Gon assured that he would go back to the drawing board immediately and fix all the weaknesses identified in the friendly fixture against Maldives last night.
Despite beating the world number 154 Maldives 3-0 at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium, Pan Gon’s charges were not in their top form.
“(During) The first half, it was not smooth, a little struggle on the attacking side, but the second half had improved. Maybe our football is physically demanding and sometimes the players need to be more accurate and shouldn’t lose ball possession too early.
“Even if we had lost, I am happy because the players have shown passion, commitment, and followed instructions 100 per cent, so zero complaints. Just technically and tactically we need to correct a few things, we will correct it,” he said in the post-match press conference.
He said it was different during the previous outing when the Harimau Malaya squad thrashed Cambodia 4-0 last Friday, when his players were seen improved in terms of running distance and speed as demanded by the coaching team.
Asked about his confidence in the team to fight the likes of Vietnam and Singapore for the top two spots in the AFF Cup group stage, Pan Gon said he could see that the players are in good team spirit, committed, and ‘hungry’ to fight for success.
“What I can say is, so far we are doing well, so we want to give you a good performance in every single game. All the public and fans have to know that we fought for you, we are very serious. Every single day we work hard, so we want you to be on our side.
“If we couldn’t get good results, we must cry together, if we get good results we must be happy together. We try to make fans happy, that’s why we run a lot, fight a lot, to make you proud,” he said.
Malaysia are set to open their AFF Cup campaign in Group B against Myanmar in Yangon on Dec 21, followed by their second match against Laos at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Dec 24, before facing Vietnam in Hanoi on Dec 27 and Singapore in Bukit Jalil on Jan 3.
In the match against Maldives last night, the three goals for Malaysia were scored by Darren Lok in the 24th minute, Muhammad Faisal Abdul Halim (64) and naturalised striker Lee Tuck (88).
Meanwhile, Maldives head coach Francesco Moriero was happy with the fact that his players were able to play a competitive match after three months, as their Dhivehi Premier League is in break till March.
“We played against a strong team, but three individual mistakes caused three goals, and we failed to convert two opportunities to score. As a coach, (I am) happy because my team played with intensity, disciplined tactics though playing with seven young players,” he said. — Bernama
