SUBANG JAYA, Oct 16 — National team head coach Kim Pan Gon feels Tajikistan coach Petar Segrt should not be a ‘cry baby’ before the Merdeka Tournament 2023 final tomorrow.

The South Korea-born coach said, it is a bad habit for a leader to criticise their line-up before the match begins, by making excuses.

"That is a bad habit because before playing in a match, (he’s) already coming up with excuses but for me, as a leader, I will never say that because I trust my players, the squad and we have the best attitude, must play and look for the win.

"We’re going in with a full squad and with confidence, be ready, we want the best performance and victory for spectators,” he told reporters at the pre-match conference of the Merdeka Tournament 2023 final here today.

In the meantime, Pan Gon said this tournament will be the best stage for Harimau Malaya to prove their ‘might’ against Tajikistan.

He added, the Harimau Malaya squad lined-up this time will be performing more convincingly through improvements in terms tactical and ability of the players and they ready to take revenge on Tajikistan tomorrow.

"Of course we want to win because we are on the best path to reach the world’s top 120 ranking. In the match against Tajikistan in the King of Thailand Cup final, we only lost on penalties and at that time it was raining heavily,” he said.

Meanwhile, defender Dion Cools said it will be a great experience playing in the different style from how the players play in the league.

"We’ve been improving in every game, it’s a very different style from how we play in the league compared to national team because there’s a huge demand, but we can and try to adapt to something new.

"We’re a better team and there are bigger challenges where we have to be flexible, read the game and resolve our pressure by progressing as a team,” he said.

For the record, Tajikistan got a ‘bye’ enroute to the final, following the last-minute withdrawal of Palestine on Monday due to the tense situation in the country.

Kim Pan Gon’s squad will meet Tajikistan in tomorrow’s final after upsetting India 4-2 last Friday. — Bernama