AL RAYYAN (Qatar), Jan 21 — Midfielder Mohamed Syamer Kutty Abba described Malaysia as unlucky not to collect at least one point after losing 0-1 to Bahrain in the second match of Group E in the 2023 Asian Cup competition here last night.
Mohamed Syamer, who started in the main lineup before being substituted by Natxo Insa in the second half of the match, said the team gave their all, both in defence and attack, throughout the 90 minutes of play at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
However, the Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) player said luck favoured Bahrain, who managed to find the net in the final minutes of injury time of the second half to confirm victory in the first meeting of both teams in the Asian Cup.
“It’s unfortunate that we conceded a late goal, but this is football. We gave our best for 90 minutes, even though in this match, we defended a lot, but we still mounted counter-attacks.
“They (Bahrain) were the better team, but we played as a team, and that late goal ‘killed’ us,” said the 27-year-old player after the match.
This second defeat under coach Kim Pan Gon in this campaign sees Malaysia eliminated from the competition, failing to achieve the goal of making it to the Round of 16. However, Mohamed Syamer wants to look at it from a positive perspective.
“Whenever we don’t succeed, there’s always something for us to learn and improve for the future,” he said, acknowledging that the match against Bahrain was a tough one, and the team played with a different tactical approach compared to the game against Jordan last Monday.
Mohamed Syamer was one of four players who stopped to speak with the Malaysian media after the match, alongside naturalised striker Paulo Josue and two heritage players, Natxo Insa and Stuart Wilkin.
Other players from the Harimau Malaya squad, especially those who played last night, declined to be interviewed, including goalkeeper Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed, winger Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi, and central defender Dion Cools.
Meanwhile, Josue said the team needs to take lessons and learn as much as possible from this tournament to be better prepared to compete in the next edition.
“I think it’s important for Malaysia to be here and understand the tournament, how tough it is, understand the pitch (conditions), the opponents. I think it’s time to learn and fight for the next one, for the next players who will participate again (next edition).
“With more experience and further understanding of the tournament they can have a better improvement,” said the 35-year-old Kuala Lumpur (KL) City FC player.
He also did not feel that Pan Gon was fully responsible after the South Korean blamed himself following the failure to lead the team to the knockout stage.
“We’re all in this together...we lose and we win together. We have a great coaching staff who analyse everything, give us new information and everyone needs to take responsibility. We need to keep going because we’ll have chances to qualify for the next Asian Cup,” he said.
Malaysia will complete the remaining Group E match against two-time champions South Korea at Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday.
Last night’s defeat sees Malaysia still unable to get past the group stage in four appearances in the Asian Cup since the 1976 edition in Iran, 1980 in Kuwait, and when co-hosting the tournament in 2007. — Bernama
