KUALA LUMPUR: The Merdeka Tournament made its comeback after a 10-year hiatus, and despite Malaysia's 4-2 victory against India at the National Stadium on Friday, the spotlight was on the new zeon zoysia grass.
Harimau Malaya coach Kim Pan Gon wasn't surprised by the "behaviour" of the zeon zoysia grass, as he had encountered the same during a rehearsal (field inspection) on Thursday.
The match at Bukit Jalil marked Harimau Malaya's return home for the first time in nearly 10 months, and with the pitch officially unveiled on Thursday, there wasn't sufficient time for the grass to establish its roots.
"This is normal. New pitches take time, and we expected this," said Pan Gon after the match on Friday.
"During our rehearsal, we encountered similar issues. It's the same for every pitch because it hasn't settled down yet. Given time, it will be okay."
Commenting on the match, Pan Gon questioned the nature of football without risks.
"Our defensive line could have been tougher. When we were attacking, our defenders struggled, and that was a problem we're trying to address," he said.
"But don't view it negatively because without taking risks, it could have ended 0-0.
"If you ask me not to concede goals, I will pack my defence. Our goal was to provide an entertaining game, so we had to take risks."
"We can't be satisfied with every single game. We scored four beautiful goals against world No. 102 India, but we conceded two goals.
"That's normal because we are world No. 134.
"I am satisfied. We learn from each game and work on our weaknesses."
Malaysia scored through Dion Cool (eighth minute), Arif Aiman Hanapi (20th), Faisal Halim (42nd) and La'Vere Corbin-Ong (61st), while Naorem Mahesh Singh (13th) and Sunil Chhetri (51st) replied for the Blue Tigers.
Malaysia will take on Tajikistan in the final at the same venue on Tuesday.