KUALA LUMPUR – Harimau Malaya head coach Kim Pan-gon praised his men ahead of the AFF Cup semi-finals against Thailand tomorrow, saying that the squad is quick to adapt to any situation they are put in.
“I feel our players are very smart. Even though we don’t have much time for practice due to the tournament’s schedule, they can adapt very quickly.
“There is a lot of communication between the coaching staff and players. When we say something, they are quick to catch it,” he said at the pre-match press conference today.
The South Korean coach added that the analysis team have done their part to look into the Thai squad, who are the AFF Cup defending champions after beating Indonesia 6-2 on aggregate in 2020.
“We have planned our approach and are ready to take them on.
“We know that the Thai team are ranked 111th and are defending champions, so we have to fully respect them and what they have done in the past few years.”
Malaysia are currently ranked 145th in the FIFA rankings.
“Respecting them also means going all out. We will keep our Malaysian DNA, playing style, and characteristics to make the fans proud.
“We have the home fans’ support and the players are excited, so we will use all those advantages for tomorrow’s match,” he added.
In the previous match of the campaign, Malaysia defeated Singapore 4-1 to secure their spot in the semi-finals in front of 65,147 spectators.
However, the match tomorrow will only accommodate 59,000 fans as 21,000 seats need to be left empty for the upcoming Jay Chou concert to be held in the stadium on January 15, as the stage structure will be obstructing the view.
Meanwhile, midfielder Brendan Gan shut down critics who doubted the Harimau Malaya squad’s strength in the AFF Cup tournament.
“The media have been saying that this may not be the greatest team.
“We believe we are the best and the best possible team, all the players have that positivity to never give up and give 100%.
“We need to back each other up. We are fighting for each other and the country because that is what we have to do,” he said.
Malaysia will play Thailand in the first-leg of the semi-finals tomorrow, and travel to Thailand for the second-leg match there on January 10.
In the other semi-finals, Group B champions Vietnam take on Group A runners-up Indonesia. – The Vibes, January 6, 2023.
