THE HAGUE: Forward Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin would gladly swap his first World Cup goal for a first win for the team.
Tengku Ahmad, who scored in the 5-2 defeat by Spain in their last Group A match on Monday.
“I’m pleased to have scored but it’s not something that I’d want to celebrate.
“I want to score goals but I also want to see the team win matches. So, to have lost all five matches is a huge disappointment. We did try our best, though,” he said.
Malaysia wretched run at the World Cup began with a 4-0 loss to Australia. They then lost to Belgium (5-2), England (2-0), India (3-1) and Spain (5-2).
“I have to admit that playing in the World Cup has been a overwhelming experience. It’s just not the same as in other tournaments.
“The crowd here is very supportive and you can also see that all the teams have come here with their best players.
“So, there are no easy matches,” he said.
Tengku Ahmad, 28, was lost for words when asked to explain the team’s loss of form at the World Cup.
“Other than inexperience, the team also lacked focused ... we also failed to play as a team,” he said.
“We tried hard but kept repeating our mistakes ... and we lost the ball too often as well.
“I really believe we will all learn from this outing. We finally got back into the World Cup and I think the challenge is to ensure that Malaysia continue to play at this level on a regular basis.”
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