The Malaysian football team showed remarkable confidence as they prepare to take on Indonesia in the second leg final of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Wednesday.
With one hand already on the trophy after a 3-0 win in the first leg Sunday, team captain, Safiq Rahim echoed his teammates confidence by declaring, “We came here to win and I am confident we will return home as champions’.”
The 3-0 victory clearly put Malaysia as the clear favourites to win the AFF Suzuki Cup for the first time ever, since the tournament’s inception in 1996.
Safiq, like most Malaysian football fans, feel that Indonesia will need a miracle to overturn the 3-0 deficit. Indonesia had trounced Malaysia 5-1 in the opening match on Dec 1, in Jakarta.
Safiq backed up his bold prediction by saying Indonesia, who trounced Malaysia 5-1 in the opening match in Jakarta on Dec 1, will need a miracle to overturn the 3-0 deficit.
"My teammates and I will have to stay focussed and continue to chase every opportunity with the hope of scoring more goals. The goals we scored were well earned and it will take a miracle for them to deny us,” added Safiq.
While it is admirable for the players to have such confidence, they must also be prepared to play their hearts out when they are on the field.
Chief coach, K.Rajagobal has made it clear that his team will be on the defensive. “No team can defend for 90 minutes. How we play would depend on the condition of the players,” said Rajagobal, who led the Under-23 team, which clinched the Sea Games gold last year.Rajagobal will use the last couple of training sessions to find replacements for suspended duo, Amirulhadi Zainal and Mahalli Jasuli. Indonesia also has to look for a replacement for speedy Oktovianus Maniani, who collected his second booking on Sunday.
Meanwhile chief coach of Alfred Riedl, the chief coach of Indonesia, has rated his team’s chances of winning the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 at just 5% to 10% - following the team’s 3-0 loss to Malaysia in the first leg final in Kuala Lumpur.
finally we made it! Congratulation to our brave tigers who show character and determination throughout the competition. Surely the fans all over the country are chanting the names of Safiq Rahim, Muslim Ahmad, and obviously Khairul Fahmi and Safee Sali.
ReplyDeleteI made an entry about our heroic goalkeeper, from a fan and crtics point of view