KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia turned in a disappointing show in their six-match tour of Japan but their coach is not pressing the panic buttons yet.
The players drew two (1-1, 1-1) and lost the other four (4-3, 5-1, 3-1, 2-1) against the Japanese national side.
National coach Stephen van Huizen said although the results were disappointing there were a lot of positives from the tour.
“We certainly could have done better and should have won one or two matches. But we took a young team as six core players were unavailable,” said Van Huizen.
“The objective was to learn and gain exposure. More importantly the fringe players had a lot more time on the field. This is a good opportunity for them to gain experience.
“We cannot take anything from the Japanese but to be fair our players also improved with each game.
“We are heading in the right direction despite the poor results,” he said.
The six core players who failed to make the trip are Mohamed Faiz Jali, Fitri Saari, S. Kumar, Mohamed Shahril Saabah, Mohamed Razie Rahim and Nabil Fiqri Mohamed Nor.
Van Huizen also included two players from the development squad.