KUALA LUMPUR: Harimau Malaya need to get their claws out fast at the Asian Cup before the opponents draw first blood.
This was expressed by Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli as Malaysia prepared to compete in the Asian showpiece in Doha from Jan 12-Feb 10.
Akmal was speaking from experience. He was a member of the national team that lost 5-1 to China, 5-0 to Uzbekistan and 2-0 to Iran when Malaysia co-hosted the 2007 Asian Cup.
World No. 130 Malaysia, making a return to the Asia Cup on merit after 42 years, will start their campaign against No. 87 Jordan on Jan 15. The other teams in their group are No. 86 Bahrain and No.23 South Korea.
Akmal recalled that the 2007 team faced the problem of "finding their footing" early.
He said Harimau Malaya must not have cold feet and settle down fast when playing South Korea, Jordan and Bahrain.
"It's normal to feel nervous during matches... we felt it in 2007 playing against teams that were better than us. But Malaysia need to get themselves together before it's too late.
"We couldn't play our normal game in 2007. It was like a mental block. Maybe we let ourselves be overwhelmed mentally at that time.
"I think the current national team are better compared to our time as the quality of the players is better with naturalised and heritage players around.
"The current squad also have the experience of playing higher ranked teams.
"From what I see, our national team are sharp in attacking. For the 2023 season. the team had scored in almost all matches. I feel the only issue is the transition from attack to defence. The team had conceded goals in such situations.
"I believe coach Kim Pan Gon and his coaching staff would have analysed the team's shortcomings and worked on fixing the issues," said Akmal who coached (interim) Penang for the 2023 season.