KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s 3-1 win over Turkmenistan in their first Group E match of the 2023 Asian Cup Qualifiers on Wednesday is not an excuse for the Harimau Malaya to feel comfortable in their hunt for a berth in the Asian prestigious football tournament.
Striker Darren Lok said the national squad still needs to work hard in the second group match against favourites, Bahrain, at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil tomorrow.
“Of course, we know the match against Bahrain is the most important game. In the clash against Turkmenistan, we managed to get a good result and we need that for the next two games.
“Even though we are now in a good position, this is not finished yet,” he said when met here, recently.
Darren said he personally was not satisfied with his performance and that his focus now is to redeem himself for failing to be one of the scorers in Wednesday’s match.
As such, he said he hoped that coach Kim Pan-gon would trust him enough to field him among the main eleven players for the Malaysia-Bahrain match.
“It is nice to be here and hopefully I got to score one goal for the next game,” he said.
Meanwhile, naturalised player Guilherme De Paula described the victory over Turkmenistan as a good starting point for the team.
Despite being proud of the overall performance displayed by the entire team, De Paula said there is always room for improvement.
“Every game needs to be improved. If Bahrain is strong, we are strong too, and we will fight to win and we will see who is going to win this tomorrow,” he said.
About the criticisms hurled at him after being selected to don the Harimau Malaya jersey, the Brazilian-born striker said he is committed to ignoring the negativity and would continue to strive to prove his worth.
“I take it all as positive...and I’m proud to be here and to play for Malaysia and don the national jersey. Just keep supporting us,” he said. – Bernama, June 10, 2022
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