PETALING JAYA: Hunting for an early goal and taking the fight to Bahrain will be one of the national team’s strategies when both sides clash in the Asian Cup at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium tomorrow.
The Harimau Malaya need to get back on track in Group E after the devastating 4-0 defeat by Jordan last Monday and a loss to world No. 86 Bahrain will put an end to their hopes of advancing to the knockout stage (last 16) of the expanded 24-team tournament.
World No. 130 Malaysia are playing in the Asian Cup on merit for the first time since 1980 but are among the lowest ranked teams in the competition.
Defender Shahrul Saad said the players will try to get an early goal to raise the morale of the entire squad.
“Our participation in Doha is not to complete the schedule but rather to be proud of achieving something to bring back to Malaysia,” he said.
“We hope to get one win at least and see where that takes us. Right now, that (getting an early goal) is probably the best plan. If we can score an early goal, it will motivate the team.
“We hope to do something when we play Bahrain and we will not give up,” said the 30-year-old after the team’s training session.
“All the players are in good condition. We believe in each other and we want to survive in this competition.’’
Malaysia and Bahrain currently occupy the bottom two positions in Group E after losing their opening matches.
Bahrain fell 1-3 to world No. 23 South Korea and coach Juan Antonio Pizzi is also plotting for a positive result against Malaysia to put their campaign back on track.
Shahrul added the team already have an idea of some Bahraini players whom they should keep an eye on.
“We have been here for almost two weeks, we have looked at the opposing team’s players in this group and did some research. There are some players that we really need to pay attention to, especially in midfield and attack.
“I am sure the coach (Kim Pan-gon) will have the best strategy to face Bahrain,” said Shahrul, who added it will likely be his last participation in the showcase event of Asian football.
“My age is catching up and I am not sure if we can qualify or not in four years time.
“So we have two more matches to prove ourselves,” said the 1.78m tall Shahrul.
