Despite defeat, Kim Swee pleased with Harimau Malaysia's play against Saudi Arabia

National football team head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee has expressed satisfaction with the performance of his team despite their 0-2 defeat to West Asian giant Saudi Arabia early today.

Their loss was in the final Group A match of the 2018 World Cup/2019 Asian Cup Qualifier at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.

The Melaka-born coach noted that he only assembled all 23 players as a team on Monday, saying that the players underwent a recovery session over the past three days to regain their fitness after playing many matches in the Malaysian League.

"As you could see, Saudi Arabia dominated the game but our boys showcased a good performance in terms of defending and we gave a tough time to the Saudis (to score the goals) and, at the end of the day, I could not ask for more from my players.

"I also hope we can learn from this defeat, especially playing against a few Middle and West Asian countries such as United Arab Emirates, Palestine and also Saudi Arabia," Kim Swee told a press conference after the match.

The audio of the press conference was made available by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Media Department.

The hosts got their goals through Mohammed Al Sahlawi in the 50th minute and Taiseer Al Jassam in the 73rd minute.

Kim Swee said the decision to include injury-prone defender Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak was made after the player himself confirmed that he was fit for the match.

"I was not taking a risk when I decided to field him as I had consulted the team doctor first. If the player is not fit, I will not field him. For me, Aidil is an important player for us, but unfortunately he got back to his injury (during the match) but I think it was not so serious," he said.

With the defeat, Harimau Malaysia will now play in the play-off match to the third round of the 2019 Asian Cup Qualifier.

The squad is expected to arrive home later today before heading to Melaka for a friendly match against Macau at the Hang Jebat Stadium on March 29.

Saudi Arabia, which have confirmed their spot in the final round of the 2019 Asian Cup, will face second-placed team, United Arab Emirates (UAE) at Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on March 29 in the final match of Group A.