SUBANG JAYA: Malaysian coach Kim Pan-gon is not falling for the trick after being labelled as the favourites to win the Merdeka Tournament.
Malaysia will play world No. 110 Tajikistan in the final at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil but surprisingly coach Petar Segrt has been underplaying his team’s chances although they are ranked 24 rungs higher than the hosts.
The Croatian said his side did not have the key players and would be fielding many youngsters but the South Korean Pan-gon said Segrt was just giving excuses.
With both taking a dig at each other, expect today’s final to be an exciting one.
Pan-gon was surprised with Segrt’s antics and in fact, felt that the visiting team showed no respect.
“Why did he cry before the game? That’s a bad habit. He is already giving excuses. As a leader, I won’t speak like this. I trust my players. He should be trusting them too,” said Pan-gon.
“He shows no confidence in his players before the game. This is a bad attitude.
“Plus he is not respecting his opponents. We are a full squad and are ready to give the best to our spectators.”
Pan-gon said after the 4-2 win against India on Friday, he had analysed some of the things the team needed to fix especially in defending.
“When we started to feel the pressure, we won, but we have delayed reactions,” he said.
“Against Tajikistan, I expect our players to show faster reactions and better performance.
“I hope we can get a clean sheet,” added Pan-gon who hopes that his players will also capitalise on home support.
