KUALA LUMPUR – In a rallying call to Harimau Malaya ahead of their crucial clash with South Korea in the AFC Asian Cup Group E finale tomorrow, former national striker Dollah Salleh has urged the national team not to be overly deferential to their opponents.
Despite already being eliminated from the tournament, Malaysia holds the potential to significantly impact the group standings.
With a victory against world number 23 South Korea, currently topping the group with four points alongside Jordan, Malaysia could reshape the group’s fate.
Bahrain sits third with three points, leaving the group up for grabs in terms of who can qualify for the knockout stage.
Speaking to Scoop, Dollah, who briefly coached the national team from 2014 to 2015, said that head coach Kim Pan-gon’s charges should end their campaign by causing an upset against the tournament favourites.
“Anything can happen in football, and I would love to see Harimau Malaya achieve a decent result against the South Koreans, either by winning or drawing.
“The team has shown potential on many occasions in the past,” he said.
Acknowledging the odds against them, Dollah stressed the importance of not letting their guard down and advised them against showing excessive respect to their opponents.
He cautioned that undue respect could lead to fear, urging the players to focus on going all out and playing their game with a neutral approach.
“Even if we happen to lose against them, the players must ensure that they uphold our nation’s integrity and work hard to avoid losing to them by a large margin.
“The South Koreans have some really solid players with experience in some of the best leagues in the world, and they will punish us if we make silly errors,” added Dollah, who won 81 caps and scored 33 goals for Malaysia.
Six out of 11 of South Korea’s lineup have players who play in the top five leagues in the world Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur FC), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz 05), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC), Jeong Woo-yeong (VfB Stuttgart FC), Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain FC), and Kim Ji-soo (Brentford FC).
Meanwhile, former national team player Khairun Haled Masrom echoed a similar sentiment, saying that Harimau Malaya should return to Malaysian soil by crushing South Korea’s hopes of advancing to the knockout stage.
“I think we can stop South Korea, as Pan-gon would have come up with a strategy to create a shocker in the group.
“Players like Muhammad Safawi Rashid have experience playing against South Korea in the 2018 Asian Games Jakarta, and I think they can repeat the same winning feat.
“We need to give our opponents a taste of their own medicine, just like how they defeated Germany 2-0 and eliminated them from the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, despite South Korea already being eliminated from the group stage.
“Hoping for Malaysia to come back home with pride and a decent result,” said Khairun, who played as the main centre forward for Malaysia in the 1997 FIFA Youth World Cup.
The 2018 edition of the Asian Games saw Malaysia defeat South Korea, captained by Son, 2-1 in their group match, courtesy of Safawi’s brace.
Malaysia was eliminated from the tournament’s group stage in its fourth participation (1976, 1980, 2007, and 2024) after consecutive defeats to Jordan (4-0) and Bahrain (1-0).
In Harimau Malaya’s last appearance in the 2007 edition, they conceded 12 goals and scored only one goal in three group matches (China 1-5, Uzbekistan 0-5, and Iran 0-2). – January 24, 2024