PETALING JAYA: A 3-3 draw against South Korea in the Asian Cup has whetted striker Faisal Halim’s appetite for more opportunity to play against world-class teams.
The 26-year-old Faisal believes the only way for Harimau Malaya to further improve in the continent is by playing against higher ranked nations in the near future.
“We need fast-paced games, just like what we experienced in the Asian Cup. We need these kind of matches to grow as a team,” he said.
“Our local league is not like that. Some games are slow, some are fast when we play against teams like JDT (Johor Darul Ta’zim) and Selangor.
“But I do feel things are improving at national and league level, but we just need to double our efforts to get that momentum going.”
The diminutive Faisal, also known as Mickey, stole the show against South Korea when he scored the team’s first goal in the 51st minute in the final Group E match in the Al-Janoub Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
The other goals were scored by fellow winger Arif Aiman Hanapi (62nd) and playmaker Romel Morales (90+15th minute). South Korea got theirs through wingers Jeong Woo-young (21st) and Lee Kang-in (83rd) and striker Son Heung-min (90+4th).
His goal was a beauty as the tiny player (1.58m) scored from an acute angle into the far bottom corner despite being blocked by centreback and “Korean monster” Kim Min-jae. The goal was hailed by the international media.
And as soon as the goal was scored, Faisal did a “Siuuu”, a customary celebration style made famous by superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
Faisal dedicated the goal for the fans who turned up at the stadium.
“We know the fans were sad as we didn’t qualify for the last 16. These fans came all the way from Malaysia to support us, so I wanted to give them something to remember and just to make them happy and proud.”
“We didn’t expect to win this game or even get a draw, but coach Kim Pan-gon just told us to stick to the gameplan and do what we have done in the last two years and we did.
“It was tough to play the Koreans because they hardly gave us space.
“It was really tiring but it was great to score a goal even under the circumstances.”
