THE HARIMAU MALAYA squad remains hopeful that their supporters who are known as the 12th player will continue to stand by them despite the criticism following their recent performances in the 2024 ASEAN Cup as they prepare to face Thailand at the Rajamangala National Stadium in Bangkok tomorrow.
Team captain Syamer Kutty Abba however, stated that it is the prerogative of the fans to feel apprehensive or “loss of hope” after less than impressive performances in two previous matches which ended in a 2-2 draw against Cambodia and a narrow 3-2 win over Timor Leste.
“We are here in the team together. We are trying to be positive and working ourselves to be better and hope that the fans will be behind us because it’s not the time for us to criticise and to lose hope because the tournament is being held in a very short period of time.
“So I think we can take all this positiveness for us to move forward, to learn and to be better so that we can move forward for these tournament,” he said during a press conference held today ahead of the match against the Thailand national team that is also known as the “White Elephants.”
Acknowledging the fact that playing back-to-back matches is not easy, Syamer said he is ready to give his best with the support and assistance from the coaching staff and his teammates.
Meanwhile, Harimau Malaya head coach Pau Marti Vicente stated that despite the loss of several key players, he is confident that there are capable players available who can be deployed according to the strategy planned by his team.
“I think it is a very challenging situation. We lost some of the players but we are a big squad of 26 so anyone coming here, I think we have to say how important and how motivated players are to play this kind of games.
“I think some of the players are still young. So to play this kind of games, I think that is why they become football players. So when we play official tournaments and these kind of games against strong teams it is a big motivation for us,” he said.
However, Vicente acknowledged that not much can be changed due to the limited time but Harimau Malaya squad will approach the game with all possibilities in mind.
Harimau Malaya may face a tough challenge after key players from Sabah FC, such as Dominic Tan, Stuart Wilkin, Darren Lok, and Daniel Ting had to return to help their team in the quarterfinals of the Malaysia Cup against Kuching City FC this Sunday.
The situation worsened when striker and the scorer of the first goal against Timor Leste, Syafiq Ahmad, was also ruled out due to an ankle injury.
Harimau Malaya leads Group A with four points following their victory over Timor Leste and a 2-2 draw with Cambodia.
Thailand and Singapore each have three points after one match while Cambodia has one point from two matches and Timor Leste sits at the bottom of the group with no points.
