KUANTAN: National Under-23 coach Ong Kim Swee has warned his players not to get carried away after winning the Merdeka Tournament on Saturday.
The Malaysians stayed unbeaten in the tournament after they scored a 2-0 win over Myanmar in the final with Mohd Rozaimi Abdul Rahman (28th minute) and Junior Eldstal (94th) on target.
Earlier, they defeated Singapore (1-0), Myanmar (2-1) and Thailand (3-0) in the group stage.
“We still have a long way to go and there is still room for improvement,” said Kim Swee, who are preparing the team to defend their gold medal at the Myanmar SEA Games in December.
“They played to instructions and did very well as a unit in the final,” he added.
The former international said Myanmar would be a team to watch out for in the Games.
“They will be playing on home ground and it will be tougher to beat them. They lost twice to us here and will be hungry for revenge in the Games,” said Kim Swee.
Myanmar team manager Tin Myint Aung admitted Malaysia were tactically better and were the deserved winners.
“Both teams gave a good performance. Football is about taking your chances. We didn’t but Malaysia did to win the match,” said Myint Aung.
“I think Malaysia are also tactically better than us. They were very organised and compact at the back too. We will go back and work harder to improve before the Games.”
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