PETALING JAYA: It was not the outcome Matthew Davies would have wished for in his first-ever Asian Cup game.
The rightback admitted that Harimau Malaya were not at their best after being thrashed 4-0 by Jordan in their opening Group E match at the Al-Janoub Stadium on Monday.
In the game, wingers Mahmoud Al-Mardi and Mousa Al-Tamari scored a double each.
Al-Mardi, a former Kedah player, scored in the 12th and 32nd minute while Al-Tamari, who plays for Montpellier in Ligue 1, scored in the 18th and 85th minute.
Malaysia’s back line was not at its best as they played a high-line defence, which allowed Jordanian players to run behind at will and they weren’t tight enough on the attackers, especially Al-Tamari, who is known for his exceptional dribbling.
“To say the least, we were not at our best. We were very open and exposed early on,” said Matthew, who plays for Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) in the Super League.
“The early goal killed us. Our performance was below par. We are capable of a much better performance than that.
“Not just the result didn’t go our way but it was the performance that was disappointing.
“We were a little bit too aggressive with the pressing. It’s tough to see on the field but we will head back and analyse what went wrong against Jordan.
“We will see specifically what we can improve on.”
Instead of lamenting, Matthew, 28, said the boys should refocus on their next game when they take on Bahrain at the Jassim Hamid Stadium on Saturday.
“The good thing is we have another game in four days. We will make a quick turnaround and make it better.”
Another Malaysian player Paulo Josue, who came on as a second-half substitute, said the boys will have to put their heads up high because the competition is not over yet.
The 34-year-old said they have to get back to the drawing board and prepare for a good game against Bahrain.
“As everyone could see, things did not work out for us against Jordan. We tried our best and followed what our coach planned for us but their quality beat us early in the game,” said Josue.
“They used their counter-attacks well. But we need to put our heads up because we are still in the competition. We still have the motivation to come here and learn a lot.
“We saw their (Bahrain) game against South Korea, they caused problems. We have to plan well and ensure we go all out because we know, a good result would help us stand a chance to qualify.”
