KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 6 — The Harimau Malaya squad have decided to stick to their dynamic and entertaining game ahead of the clash against defending champions Thailand in the 2022 Asean Football Federation (AFF) Cup first-leg semifinal tomorrow night.

National head coach Kim Pan Gon said that Thailand’s higher ranking would not affect Malaysia’s approach in delivering a positive result at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil here.

"We all know that Thailand is ranked around 100 so we must fully respect what they have done in the last few years, especially in becoming winning the previous edition. I think they deserve our respect.

"But respect means we will (be) fully against them, so full respect and full power against Thailand. So we will keep our Malaysia DNA playing style and characteristics to make Malaysian football fans proud,” he said during a pre-match press conference here today.

Malaysia put on a dynamic and entertaining football performance as they beat Singapore 4-1 here last Tuesday to advance into the semifinal as Group B runners-up, a feat Pan Gon described as one of the best performances of the national team under his tutelage.

On the Thai team, the 53-year-old South Korean coach said, "Traditionally, Thailand is a very good attacking team with players who have very good skills and individual powers, so we must fully respect their approach.”

Pan Gon was also impressed by the efficiency of his charges, who have been quick to understand new instructions and information whether related to the team or the opponents.

"I feel our players are very smart, they are quickly adapting, we cannot do very much practice but (instead) a lot of communication among us, but they do very well when we say something, they already catch up.

"I’m fully confident that even though the Thailand team is really different than other teams, we have a plan already and to implement it, there’s not so much problem,” he said, while confirming defender Ahmad Khuzaimi Piee would likely miss tomorrow’s match as he was still recovering.

Meanwhile, midfielder Brendan Gan guaranteed the team would face Thailand with a winning mentality like in previous matches andh oped that the fans would continue providing strong support to fuel their spirits during tomorrow night’s crucial match.

"Obviously a win, that’s what we always go out there to do, no matter who the opposition is, we go out to win. Our game style is to be very attacking and score a lot of goals as many as possible we can. We will go out there tomorrow again and play the same way, go out there to score goals.

"Bukit Jalil, it’s a different atmosphere out there, it’s exciting to play out there. Your hair stands up on your skin when you are out there, so it’s gonna be an exciting game and we going out there to win this game and hopefully we can do that,” the 34-year-old Selangor FC skipper said.

For the record, Malaysia edged Thailand on away goals after drawing 0-0 in Bukit Jalil and 2-2 in Bangkok in the semifinals of the 2018 edition before going on to lose 3-2 on aggregate to Vietnam in the final.

After the Bukit Jalil match, the Harimau Malaya will leave for Bangkok for the return leg at the Thammasat Stadium on Tuesday (January 10). — Bernama