Don't be too hasty in seeking early goal against Myanmar - Kim Swee

The Harimau Malaysia squad have been reminded not to be too hasty in seeking an early goal against hosts Myanmar in their last group B match for the AFF Suzuki Cup at Thuwunna Stadium, here, on Saturday.

National chief coach, Datuk Ong Kim Swee has demanded that his players be calm instead, although they are aware that they need to win in order to advance to the quarter-finals.

"Of course we will be on the attack and defend (our goalmouth) as well; we need a balance here...we should not be hasty and I'm sure our players understand that we need to score goals and at the same time defend well, to advance to the quarter-finals," he said when met by reporters, here, today.

"This is important where we need to follow the positive tactical strategy and we put up a good display (against Vietnam) yesterday before they scored in the last minute," said Kim Swee of the 0-1 loss to Vietnam.

The Melaka-born coach said to be playing at night for the first time after twice playing in the evening heat here, could motivate the national squad to end the upcoming match on a positive note.

Asked on injuries sustained by any of his players, Kim Swee revealed that centre-back Ronny Harun and left winger Mohd Syazwan Zainon, had a groin injury and leg injury respectively, and these two players would be referred to the team doctor to determine whether they could recover for the match against Myanmar.

On the pressure of facing tens of thousands of Myanmar supporters at the stadium, Kim Swee said his players were used to that kind of situation and he was confident that they would put up a good fight against the hosts.

Sharing his views was striker Ahmad Hazwan Bakri, who said that the players were confident of beating Myanmar despite the partisan crowed flooding Thuwunna Stadium this Saturday.

"Myanmar's strength is in their quick young players but perhaps they also have weaknesses we can capitalise on. We had also faced huge turnouts of Myanmar supporters before, so this is no problem for us," said the Selangor player.

Centre-back Muhammad Shahrom Abdul Kalam, although realising it would be a tough match against the hosts, is still positive about Harimau Malaysia's chances of going into the quarter-finals despite their loss to Vietnam yesterday.

"We also need to adapt fast to the pressure from the thousands of Myanmar supporters on match day," said the Selangor team captain.

Malaysia have to beat Myanmar to advance to the quarter-finals after losing 0-1 to Vietnam in the second match of group B at the same stadium yesterday.

With that victory, Vietnam who had defeated Myanmar 2-1 in the first match, have qualified for the quarter-finals together with group A leaders Thailand who secured their second win by beating Singapore 1-0 in the Philippines on Tuesday. –Bernama