PETALING JAYA: Thank you for believing in me, says Romel Morales to his teammates and coach Kim Pan-gon.
The naturalised playmaker, who scored the last-minute leveller in injury time to help Malaysia hold South Korea 3-3 in their final Group E match of the Asian Cup at the Al-Janoub Stadium on Thursday, dedicated the goal to his teammates.
“They (teammates) believed in me and supported me from the first moment I got to the team. All of this is for them, to the people who believed in me.
“We just kept believing till the last minute because we wanted to bring some pride to the nation. We want to show everyone we can fight if we give our 100% and full focus.”
Morales said he was extremely proud to be among the goalscorers.
“It’s not only a special moment for me, it is a special moment for everyone. I am so happy to make the nation proud,” said Morales, 26, who is rumoured to be moving to Johor Darul Ta’zim for the new Super League season.
“We have been working hard since the start of the competition. We started in difficult circumstances but in the end, we tried to fight and now get a good result for the whole of Malaysia.
“We were fighting in the first half but South Korea have more control of the ball because they are a World Cup team. We knew it would be a tough game.
“We needed to just focus on us and believe in the qualities that we have. We knew we would have chances because we had fast players up front. Mickey (Faisal) and Arif took their chances, I took my chance.”
Morales hopes to do better in upcoming matches for the Harimau Malaya.
“This momentum has to continue and I hope to do even better in the upcoming matches for Malaysia.”
