KUALA LUMPUR: Kim Pan Gon rarely gets it wrong, but the national coach got it wrong against the War Elephants.
His tactics and selection of the first XI were off, and Thailand tore Harimau Malaya to shreds in front of their fans at Thammasat Stadium to reach the AFF Cup final on Tuesday.
Of course, Harimau Malaya did not have their best players for the AFF Cup, with only seven regulars available for the tournament, and Pan Gon had to make do with what he had.
However, things could have ended slightly better if Malaysia had taken risks early on and employed the right tactics against the Thais in the AFF Cup semi-final second leg.
Malaysia's game was littered with mistakes, and they offered very little on the pitch, likely due to tactics, against a strong Thai team who were also missing a few big names from abroad.
Making four changes by dropping tried-and-tested players to the bench must have been a tactical choice, but to do that after winning the first leg affected Malaysia's game.
Pan Gon, in facing the media after the game, as expected took responsibility for the defeat, even for questions pertaining to tactics and selection of players and pleaded to journalists not to blame his boys.
But his choice of players for the match could be due to the tournament's hectic schedule.
The tournament's home-and-away format can kill even the fittest players.
It is not easy to travel from one country to another from the group stage with hardly any rest during the off-season.
The Asean Football Federation (AFF) should drop the current format and nominate a host for each edition.
First and foremost, the AFF should host the tournament during the Fifa window, not outside of it.
Yes, the current format gets good gate collection, but the top teams will always struggle to secure their best players as long as it is organised outside the Fifa window.
However, there are other problems that the AFF have to solve, such as the quality of refereeing.
There were many "weird" decisions by the match officials, which frustrated teams and fans, and led to debates whether these referees received their badges from Fifa.
But forget about the AFF Cup. The players in the Malaysian squad played above expectations to reach the semi-finals. Many did not expect them to go this far in the tournament.
We should drop the tag "Malaysia B" and applaud the boys.
Despite some limitations, these players fought hard for the badge and gave their all.
The AFF Cup is a form of audition for these players in the absences of their "superstar" peers.
The exposure gained from the tournament and some tweaks to their game will make them better players in the future and offer Pan Gon a bigger pool of quality ahead of the Qatar Asian Cup next year.
In fact, Pan Gon may have a headache from now on when he selects players for centralised training. However, the scribe is puzzled why Brendan Gan is not Malaysia's permanent captain.
The heritage player was a workhorse in the middle of the park and showed his leadership qualities throughout the tournament, which was not the first time.
However, he was not the only one who shone. Players like Lee Tuck, Faisal Halim, V. Ruventhiran, Quentin Cheng, Stuart Wilkin, Azam Azmi Murad and Sharul Nazeem Zulpakar showed grit and determination in every game.
There is no need for Pan Gon's boys to apologise to Malaysian fans. The players fought well and did their best.
Chin up, Harimau Malaya. Everything will fall into place ahead of the Asian Cup.
Ajitpal Singh is the Sports Editor of NST