NILAI: Harimau Malaya’s central defensive stalwart, Shahrul Saad wants to ensure that the national squad’s last line will be even more formidable when they take on Myanmar in their final AFF Cup Group A crunch match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil this Satruday.
It cannot be denied that frailties in defense were glaring when the national side lost 0-2 to Vietnam and conceded a goal when they beat Laos 3-1, and such weaknesses need to be rectified immediately to ensure that Malaysia are able to get the much needed victory against Myanmar in order to advance to the knockout stage of the competition.
According to Shahrul, who is also captain of Super League side Perak who were recently crowned Malaysia Cup champions, a couple of mistakes made during previous matches cannot be repeated, with national coach Tan Cheng Hoe already working very hard to address the defensive frailties during training.
"When we take on Myanmar, from a defense perspective we are ready and coach Cheng Hoe has already reminded all of us to remain focused and not to commit any mistakes which could prove to be costly,” he said when met after training at the Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) training field here earlier today (Tuesday).
"I know that my fellow teammates also realise the situation as we must win if we are to advance to the semi-finals. Myanmar are not that very much different from Vietnam, as their forwards are known to be fast and swift, especially in the penalty box.
"However, for those of us that make up the defensive line, we are ready and we promise to ensure that the Malaysian goal is not penetrated in our quest to try to win so that we can make it past the group stage,” said Shahrul who is expected to link up with another defensive lynchpin in Johor Darul Ta’zim’s (JDT) Aidil Zafuan Abd Radzak.
Malaysia lost for the first time in this year’s AFF Cup when they went down 0-2 to Vietnam in Hanoi. In two of their earlier group matches, the Harimau Malaya squad notched a slim 1-0 win over Cambodia followed by a comfortable 3-1 victory over Laos. After the loss to Vietnam, Malaysia must now win their last group match over Myanmar who currently top the group on six points together with second placed Vietnam. Malaysia are also on six points but have played one more match than the top two sides.
Shahrul added that he is determined on helping the national side march to the semi-finals because he wants to end the year on a high after winning the Malaysia Cup with Perak last month.
"Since the AFF Cup began, I have relied on winning the Malaysia Cup as motivation for me to help the national side advance to the final and emerge as champions,” stressed Shahrul.