No time to rest: Harimau Malaya players training at the North Harbour Stadium in Auckland. — FAM
PETALING JAYA: The motivation for Harimau Malaya is simply to beat New Zealand and go below No. 130 in the FIFA rankings.
National coach Pau Marti Vicente is aware that it is not going to be easy taking down the mighty Oceanic giants in an international friendly at the North Harbour Stadium, Auckland, today.
But he dangled the carrot in front of his charges by saying that beating the All Whites could see them further improving on their world rankings.
Malaysia are ranked 132nd in the world while New Zealand are 95th.
“Every game is special when it comes to the national team. We can make a bit of history because if we beat them, we will surely go below 130 in the rankings after a long time,” said the Spaniard.
“This is a step in the right direction for this group of players donning the Malaysian jersey. That is our motivation... to show that we want to improve in the game.
“We focused on ourselves and planned for the upcoming game. We want to implement our style, see what is the best approach and assess how our opponents play.
“We also corrected a few things from the previous game and we will utilise our best options to do well this time.”
Before the game against New Zealand, Malaysia played a practice match on Friday, holding A-League club Auckland 1-1.
Vicente said New Zealand will be no pushovers as they have some top-quality players amongst their ranks, presenting problems for his players.
“I am expecting a difficult game because most of the New Zealanders are based in Europe and they have been playing in high-level environments.
“We are also aware that New Zealand do not play often at home, they are away most times.
“So being here would be an extra motivation for them as they are playing in front of their crowd. They would want to win against us for sure.”
Vicente said all 26 players would be available for the game with no injuries.
Meanwhile, New Zealand coach Darren Bazeley said his boys are looking forward to playing in Auckland, calling the field immaculate and the weather perfect.
“It has been 18 months since we played at home. We have been playing lots of away games before this, so it feels good to be playing in front of friends and family in Auckland,” said the Englishman, who has been based in New Zealand since 2005.
Bazeley also hopes that his charges would help their main player Chris Wood with ammunition.
“He is scoring goals for Nottingham Forest in the English Premier League, so we hope we can help him out by creating chances during the game against Malaysia,” he said.
“It is an important part of Malaysia’s progress when they face us so we need to present a good challenge for them.
“The players are well aware of playing the style of football we want and scoring goals.
“It is the best way to connect with the crowd after being away for a long time.”
