Merdeka Cup victory augurs well for Sea Games campaign - Kim Swee

Malaysia's victory in the 41st edition of the Merdeka Cup football tournament augurs well for the Harimau Malaya A (national Under-23) squad's campaign in the Myanmar SEA Games in December, said team coach Ong Kim Swee.

The squad defeated Myanmar 2-0 in the final at the Darul Makmur here tonight through goals from Md Rozaimi Abd Rahman in the 29th minute and Putera Nadher Amarhan in the 94th minute.

"However, I caution the players not to get carried away because much is still needed to be done before we head for the SEA Games," he told reporters after the match.

On tonight's final, Kim Swee praised all his boys for playing as a unit and following team instructions.

"The defence, goalkeeper, strikers and midfield did their jobs well and in the end we succeeded in getting two goals from our moves," he said.

He also singled out winger Wan Zack Haikal Wan Nor, midfielder Putera Nadher Amarhan and keeper Mohd Izham Tarmizi Roslan for maintaining consistent performance since the opening match against Singapore last Saturday.

"All the players were hungry to win and showed true fighting spirit tonight...this victory is very meaningful to me as it comes during Malaysia's 56th Independence anniversary," he said.

In related matters, Kim Swee revealed that the squad would be heading to Bandung, Indonesia on Wednesday to play in an invitational tournament there.

"At that meet, I will be giving a chance to players who did not get to see much action (in the Merdeka Cup) to prove themselves to remain in the team," he said.

Meanwhile, Myanmar's manager, Tin Myint Aung blamed his boys for displaying a poor performance against the Malaysian side which he dubbed as 'more dangerous and well-organised' compared to their previous meeting in the tournament earlier.

"We have learnt a lot from this defeat and we will study what we'll need to improve before the SEA Games gets underway this December in our country," he said.

Myint Aung also revealed that the team will be heading to Japan and South Korea next month for training purposes besides playing friendly matches against several club sides in both countries.