Malaysian coach wants to win Laos like Vietnam

Malaysia and Vietnam are rated higher than the rest of the teams in Group B. But in the first round, while Vietnam crushed Laos 6-0, Malaysia only won 1-0 at the Myanmar field. Because the goal difference can become a ranking indicator, Coach Kim determines the score of the match against Laos tomorrow 24/12 as well as the next matches that are very important for Malaysia.

"Of course, we want to win," said the Malaysian coach in Kuala Lumpur on the afternoon of 23/13 in a pre-match press conference. "But if we want to top the table, we have to catch up with Vietnam in goal difference. Now we are five goals behind them."

However, Mr. Kim insisted that his and Malaysia's wishes did not mean that the team disrespected Laos. "I think after the big loss, Laos will be stronger," said the Korean coach. "They certainly don't want to lose face again. So we have to be stronger than Laos to achieve our goal."

Midfielder Brendan Gan shares the same opinion with the head coach. He said the team is always looking for as many goals as possible in each game, but sometimes that doesn't come true. The 34-year-old added: "We don't worry much about how Laos plays. We just have to focus on ourselves and make the best of the style the coach wants to apply."

In the victory over Myanmar, Malaysia only held the ball 42.7%, finished 9 shots, with only two on target, while the home side finished 18 shots, with 3 goals. It was not until the 52nd minute that Faisal Halim opened the scoring for Malaysia. In the second half, coach Kim's army almost received a bitter fruit, and had to ask goalkeeper Syihan Hazmi to excellently stop Win Naing Tun's penalty kick to keep all three points.

After a hard victory, Malaysia returned to the "fire pan" Bukit Jalil to face Laos tomorrow. However, coach Kim Pan-gon warned the players not to take tomorrow's opponents lightly.

History records that Malaysia has never lost to Laos in the AFF Cup, and won this opponent 4-0 in the last meeting in 2021. A good result will help coach Kim Pan-gon's teachers and students become more confident in the promised trip. difficult appointment to Hanoi to meet the Vietnamese team on December 27.