THE Malaysian players were in tears in the changing room after their embarrassing 1-0 defeat to Laos in Friday’s Group J match of the AFC Under-16 qualifiers in Vientiane.
The team were expected to breeze past the minnows following the 7-0 win over Cambodia in their opening match.
Lavi Somthongkham was Laos’ hero with a goal after just four minutes into the match.
The team must beat Japan today for a chance of qualifying for the tournament proper in Bahrain next year.
“When we arrived in Laos, some players were not in their best physical shape as they were down with flu. I used many fringe players in our opening match.
“Yesterday, our boys felt defeated and they were crying in the changing room after the final whistle. But we are not using the flu as an excuse... we need to move on,” said Maniam.
Japan, who thrashed Cambodia 8-0 on the same day, lead the standings with six points. Laos and Malaysia have each earned three points but the former are second on head-to-head record.
The group winners together with the four best runners-up will qualify for the tournament proper.
“I have told my players to focus on Japan. It would be tough as Japan secured big wins over Laos and Cambodia, but we will try our best to record a good result,” Maniam added.