PETALING JAYA: Naturalised midfielder Sergio Aguero believes Malaysia have what it takes to overcome Vietnam in the second leg of the AFF Cup semi-final at the My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi today.
The 32-year-old Aguero said if the Harimau Malaya can show the same fight in the first leg at home on Sunday – with stronger belief in the middle and up front – they can pull off a surprise result.
He reminded his teammates that despite losing 0-2 at the Cheras Football Stadium, Malaysia enjoyed the better share of possession and gave the tournament favourites a real fight.
“We gave a very good fight, including the young players,’’ said Aguero.
“The Vietnam coach (Kim Sang-sik) is a friend of mine, and he told me he was surprised by how well we played in the first half.
“Now we have 90 more minutes to fight and I hope we can come back.”
He also expects another tough battle in midfield which could be crucial in deciding the result.
‘’Their midfielders committed a lot of fouls against me in the first leg, but we still played well – Syafiq Ahmad, Ibrahim Manusi, Daryl Sham George, all of them did very well.
‘’It won’t be any different in the second leg as who has better control of the midfield will make the difference,” added Aguero, who will be joining Indonesian side PSM Makassar for the coming season.
Meanwhile, interim coach Tan Cheng Hoe has urged his players to remember the Malaysian side who reached the final in 2014 as a good example.
The Harimau Malaya, then under Dollah Salleh, managed to overturn a first-leg deficit to edge Vietnam 5-4 on aggregate in the semi-finals.
In the final, they were narrowly beaten 4-3 on aggregate against Thailand.
“We should look back to 2014 and remember how the team under Dollah overcame a tough situation.
“They were down 1-2 against Vietnam but bounced back to beat them 4-2 in Hanoi,” said Cheng Hoe.
“After 12 years, the coaches and players have changed but we can still use that as motivation.
“That gives me hope that we can do it again but all of us will have to fight together.”
