KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 25 — The five-goal thriller against Laos in their second Group B match of the 2022 Asean Football Federation Cup (AFF) last night has proved Harimau Malaya’s credentials as a top-quality team.
After only registering a slim 1-0 win against Cambodia in the opening tie on Wednesday, national men’s football squad head coach Kim Pan Gon said he could feel the passion and hunger of his charges to run riot in the match held in front of 29,961 fans at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
“We were struggling in the first half, as Laos were really compact and did not give us too much space to score. During the break, I encouraged the players to show more courage and explore their potential.
“I am happy to see that my players showed a very good reaction (in the second half) and they showed to me why they are good players, but I believed we could have scored more,” he said during the post-match press conference here, last night.
Asked whether the win would give the team some momentum ahead of an interesting group fixture against two times champions Vietnam in Hanoi, the South Korean simply responded: “We plan to hit them”.
The 53-year-old coach also hailed defender Ahmad Khuzaimi Piee for wanting to be on the bench despite still recovering from an injury against Myanmar at the Thuwunna Stadium in Yangon.
“He was willing to sit on the bench to support his teammates, that was beautiful team spirit. Hopefully, he will recover quickly as our medical team is trying its best to treat him,” he said.
Pan Gon was also pleased with the powerful support from the home fans and thanked them for their presence in Bukit Jalil.
Meanwhile, midfielder Brendan Gan said he thoroughly enjoyed getting involved in the game despite being asked to come on to play in the centre-back position, replacing Muhammad Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi in the second half.
“I think the coaching staff had evaluated every player, they know our strengths and weaknesses so if the coach wants us to play in a certain position, we must have confidence to do that,” he said while urging his teammates to give Vietnam a run for their money this Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Laos head coach Michael Weiss admitted his players could not cope with the high-tempo game by Malaysia, especially in the second half which led them to commit mistakes and allow the home side to score four more goals after conceding only one in the opening half.
“Congratulations to Malaysia for the win. We have to move on, reset and look forward to play against Singapore next,” he said. — Bernama
