Barging through: Malaysia’s Fazly Mazlan goes in for a challenge against Thailand’s Ekanit Panya at the Thammasat Stadium in Bangkok. — AFP
PETALING JAYA: Frustration was written all over Kim Pan-gon’s face.
The South Korean had badly wanted to give Malaysia an early new year treat by guiding them into the AFF Mitsubishi Cup final but it did not happen.
The Harimau Malaya needed only one away goal while Thailand were leading 2-0 to gain the advantage in their return leg semi-final match in Bangkok.
But in the end, the aggressive Thais did not give Malaysia the chance to find that elusive goal and won 3-0 to qualify for the final against Vietnam on a 3-1 aggregate.
A disappointed Pan-gon apologised to all Malaysian fans for the defeat and said the buck stops with him.
“Congratulations to Thailand. Tonight we lost the game and I apologise to the Malaysian fans.
“Any decision rests with me. You blame me, not the players,’’ he said.
“I can’t say much about the players’ performance. I appreciate them for sacrificing their vacations and missing their families for almost 50 days. A lot of sacrifices.
“You’ve to understand that these players came during the non-FIFA period because they wanted to play for the nation. I will stand in front of these boys and take all the responsibility,” said Pan-gon, who had to prepare for the tournament without the best players at his disposal.
But on the positive side, those given the chance to play different roles like Faisal Halim, Sharul Nazeem, Lee Tuck and Brendan Gan have shone.
Pan-gon certainly has more options to choose from as he prepares for the Asian Cup Finals later in the year.
“The players followed the instructions and fought until the last drop of sweat. They ran themselves to the ground and fought until the end.
“In the last five weeks, we have been united and positive. We talked about the future and encouraged each other.
“So, we will head back home and analyse ourselves to learn from our mistakes,” he added.
