HERE is the Covid nightmare. Harimau Malaya may be forced to withdraw from the ongoing AFF Cup in Singapore if more of their players test positive.
Already, Malaysia have "lost" four players due to the virus. Goalkeeper Khairulazhan Khalid, defender Quentin Cheng, forwards Akhyar Rashid and Faisal Halim have been separated from the team and are now under a 10-day quarantine.
Up to yesterday, all four were not cleared to play the crucial Group B match against Vietnam tomorrow.
A worried Tan Cheng Hoe hopes that none of the other 19 players in the team are infected.
If more key players test positive, coach Cheng Hoe may end up not having enough players to field a team. If that happens, Malaysia may have to withdraw midway from the competition despite having won their first two matches (beating Cambodia 3-1 and Laos 4-0).
It remains a mystery how did the Malaysian team get infected.
It is learnt that Malaysia's top goalscorer in the AFF Cup, Safawi Rasid, shared a hotel room with Akhyar before the latter tested positive.
And in a viral video, Akhyar was seen celebrating together with striker Luqman Hakim Shamsudin after Malaysia scored against Cambodia on Monday at Singapore's Bishan Stadium.
Before the competition kicked off last Sunday, Myanmar coach Antoine Hey revealed that 10 of their players had initially tested positive or had inconclusive results upon arrival in Singapore on Dec 2.
The next day, Myanmar forward Than Paing was the only one of the 10 who tested positive, and he missed their Group A opener against Singapore, which they lost 3-0.
It is learnt that the Myanmar team are staying at the same hotel with Vietnam, who arrived on Dec 2, and with Malaysia, who arrived on Dec 3.
The Myanmar team had travelled directly to Singapore from Turkey, where they played several warm-up matches.
This has left Cheng Hoe waking up every morning, praying for the health and safety of his players as they prepare for the two remaining crunch matches against Vietnam and Indonesia.
"We need to face this (worry about positive results) whenever we do a swab test. These are very challenging times," said Cheng Hoe.
"For the 19 players remaining, they must be ready for any situation, be prepared to play in any positions."