Harimau Muda have no choice but beat Vietnam

Looking lost: Malaysian players (in yellow) look dejected after losing to Thailand. — GLENN GUAN/The Star

THE Thai footballers have taught Malaysians a harsh lesson.

And now it’s time for the Harimau Muda to get their act together if they are to remain in the SEA Games football competition.

After being humbled 0-2 by Thailand on Saturday, the national Under-22 squad need to beat defending champions Vietnam in their third Group B match at Prince Stadium today to keep alive their chances to make the semi-finals. They beat Laos 5-1 in their first match.

It will be nothing but easy for the players managed by coach E. Elavarasan, based on the reputation of Vietnam. Their opponents have scored five times and conceded only one en route to picking up six points from their first two matches.

National team captain Azam Azmi Murad admitted that his team learned a useful lesson against Thailand and wanted to use the defeat as a motivation to bounce back.

“We need to improve our performances in all aspects to be able to subdue Vietnam,” said Azam.

“We lost to Thailand, so there is no other option left. We have to win against Vietnam and Singapore.

“Vietnam are strong, we have to focus more because if we are distracted, we will be punished as what had happened to us against Thailand. We did well but I think the players were tired and lost their focus a bit.

“That is one of the things that we need to improve,” he said.

After two matches, Malaysia have dropped to third place with three points while Vietnam and Thailand, who both recorded two wins, share the top two spots.

Elavarasan remained optimistic that his men will rise with a better performance while taking into account the fact that Vietnam also need to win against Malaysia.

“It is an important match to Vietnam too because their last match will be against Thailand. So, this will be a decisive match for them,” said Elavarasan.

“It’s important to us too, I think we are still optimistic and will rise,” said.

He does not want his team to use the soaring temperature as an excuse for the defeat.

“The players have to adapt. We lost 2-0 because they (the Thais) had better chances and scored.

“We kept looking for one special thing to happen but it didn’t, so we have to accept this defeat.”