KUALA LUMPUR – The Harimau Malaya’s new ‘boss’ Kim Pan-Gon is working on the team’s new identity which is inclined towards attacking football, promising to push the squad to continuously improve to meet fans’ expectations.
Apologising for their misfiring in the Causeway Derby match last night, the 52-year-old South Korean believed that despite losing 2-1 to Singapore in the Tier 1 International Friendly, the national team players were able to put up a good show against the hosts and created a lot of chances.
“To me, generally it was a very good start, time to time I was very comfortable on the bench. I was very confident about all our players’ performances; they were amazing. It was unfortunate we couldn’t convert our chances despite having many chances.
“I think sometimes this happens; we can learn something from here. To me, this is a very good testing game. I think I am more inclined to go more attacking. We try to make a Malaysian football identity, more positive,” he said in the post-match press conference at the Singapore National Stadium.
An audio recording of the press conference was shared to the media by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
Thai League outfit BG Pathum United’s hitman Ikhsan Fandi emerged as the hero for the Lions, scoring a brace in the 30th and 76th minutes to seal the victory, while the Harimau Malaya side replied through Liridon Krasniqi’s first international goal in the 57th minute.
Pan-Gon said his charges played beyond expectations and that Malaysia could have won the match.
He wants to inject a more powerful, aggressive, dynamic and proactive style into their game.
“For the last 10 days, I have been having an amazing time with all the players; zero complaints on them. But we try to complete all the programmes here. Definitely, we try to improve, much positive for the players’ performance.
“I much appreciate I get something (though not many days during this FIFA window). We use this opportunity to try to improve. I feel we have improved, but this is not our destination. We will go further; we can go further. I am very positive,” he added.
Commenting on the defenders, he said the team wanted to take risks by playing an attacking game, which eventually left gaps for Singapore to launch counterattacks.
“You may say you want to draw with Singapore. I can draw with Singapore 100 times, but I don’t want. I want to go for a win in the game, so we shouldn’t be afraid to attack,” he said.
After defeating the Philippines 2-0 on Tuesday and yesterday’s defeat against the hosts in the FAS Tri-Nation Series 2022, the Harimau Malaya squad will conclude their Singapore trip with a closed-door friendly against local club Albirex Niigata FC tomorrow. – Bernama, March 28, 2022
