BURIRAM: North Korea coach Jorn Andersen said his team's confidence has received an enormous shot in the arm following the impressive 4-1 win over Malaysia in Friday's Asian Cup qualifying match.
Both teams will face each other again on Monday at I-Mobile Stadium.
"This win has restored our confidence. I hope the players will continue the momentum in Monday's match.
"On Friday, the players were eager to respond immediately from the 5-0 thrashing by group leaders Lebanon (in October) and they did a good job.
"Malaysia are a strong team, and we cannot take them lightly on Monday. We need to give them the respect by giving 100 per cent focus," said the Norwegian coach.
North Korea and Hong Kong have five points each but the latter are second on goal difference with Lebanon at the top on 10 points.
"We studied Malaysia's game through videos for months and prepared accordingly for the game.
"We pressured them and got an early goal, and this gave us confidence," Andersen added.