Harimau Malaya out to salvage national pride in match against Thailand - Cheng Hoe

KUALA LUMPUR: National squad head coach, Tan Cheng Hoe puts a Harimau Malaya win over Thailand early Wednesday morning as a priority over the clean record he has in three encounters against the War Elephants.

Cheng Hoe said the last Group G match of the second round of the 2022 World Cup/ 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers was crucial to the national team's pride in the qualifying campaign after losing to United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Vietnam earlier.

The 53-year-old coach admitted a positive result over Thailand in the game at Al Maktoum Stadium, Dubai could at least cheer up the country's football fans who were disappointed over the two consecutive defeats.

"I think all the players are aware of the causes and weaknesses in our defeats and after a post mortem we know tomorrow's match (Wednesday) will determine our dignity in this campaign, so that's why the players need to earn a positive result for the team and fans.

"We know many are quite disappointed with the results (two defeats), that's why we have to bounce back from defeats and garner a victory tomorrow (Wednesday)," he told a news conference online after the national squad training session in Dubai, today.

As Harimau Malaya coach, Cheng Hoe has yet to lose to Thailand since taking over the task of leading the national squad in December 2017 with a record of one win and two draws.

However, according to the record of the last 10 meetings since December 2010, Malaysia only managed to win two with four losses and four draws.

At the same time, Cheng Hoe demanded that each of his players remain focused throughout the match against Thailand and seize every opportunity after seeing his team lost 1-2 to Vietnam despite creating more lethal moves in front of goal.

"We just have to score goals while keeping ours intact, that's why we need to focus 100 per cent from the first minute of the game until the final whistle is blown," said Cheng Hoe.

Meanwhile, he hinted that the country's young player Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi, 18, would likely be fielded in the meeting against Thailand to fill the position left by naturalised player Mohamadou Sumareh who was suspended from the match.

He did not rule out the possibility that the Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) winger will be given the responsibility in the right wing position after displaying confidence and courage when he was brought in as a substitute against Vietnam, last Saturday.

"But we should not put too much pressure on him because it is still too early to make an assessment on Arif Aiman, but he has great potential in future and we hope other players are also ready to be included in the starting line -up against Thailand," he said.

Meanwhile, Cheng Hoe admitted information shared by two defenders; Dominic Tan and Junior Eldstal as well as striker Norshahrul Idlan Talaha who have experience playing in the Thai League has to some extent helped the team in facing the War Elephants.

Thailand and Malaysia now face a do or die battle to grab third place in Group G to secure a slot into the third round of the 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers after both teams shared nine points in third and fourth place on goal difference.

After seven matches, Vietnam lead Group G with 17 points, followed by UAE (15 points), Thailand third, Malaysia fourth and Indonesia in the bottom with one point.

- BERNAMA