Even though Harimau Malaya are currently in a precarious position right now in getting past the group stage of the AFF Cup after Friday night’s 0-2 defeat at the hands of Vietnam in Hanoi, coach Tan Cheng Hoe admits that he will not change his game plan when his charges next face Myanmar in their final Group A match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil next Saturday (November 24).
Many were left dissatisfied with Harimau Malaya’s loss to Vietnam despite the fact that the national side were in control throughout the match and ended up being punished by the hosts swift counter attacking moves.
Cheng Hoe has implemented a short passing system to control possession but against the Vietnamese, Harimau Malaya were found to be lacking ideas in how to break down their opponent’s stubborn defense. It is no wonder that the team coached by South Korean Park Sang-Heo are ranked world No 102 compared to Malaysia who are 67 places down at No 169.
The loss to Vietnam was Malaysia’s first in the AFF Cup competition after the national side has won their first two group matches, a 1-0 win over Cambodia followed by a comfortable 3-1 victory over Laos at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil last Monday. Now though Malaysia must beat Myanmar in their final Group A match if they are to advance to the semi-finals, as the national side is tied on six points with Vietnam and Myanmar with only goal difference separating the three sides.
“We played really good football and I will not change our style of play, it’s just that our players must improve on their weaknesses when attacking.
“I feel that if we were to draw a comparison against the two earlier matches, this time round against Vietnam we actually played a really good game, we had a good combination from how we passed and distributed the ball which allowed us to control the match, though there were one or two mistakes where we lost possession in our own half and ended up being punished for it as our opponents made full use of two goal-scoring opportunities that came their way,” he said when met after the match.
Against Vietnam, Cheng Hoe made four changes by bringing in forwards Shahrel Fikri Md Fauzi, Mohamadou Sumareh and Akhyar Rashid to bolster the forwardline, while Syamer Kutty Abba was brought in, in midfield.
Sumareh linked up well with Shahrel Fikri on the right side but he was substituted in the 57th minute as Cheng Hoe brought in Safawi Rasid.
“Sumareh was complaining of having some slight pain, so I did not want to risk him any further and had to take him out earlier than expected. For the match against Myanmar, we must go all out for the win and we will play our hearts out to make sure we do so,” stressed Cheng Hoe.