KUALA LUMPUR – Former Kedah FC coach Azraai Khor Abdullah believes that Malaysia will struggle in their final Asian Cup group match against South Korea later today.
The legendary football coach, known for his historic back-to-back domestic trebles (in 2006/07 and 2007/08), said it would be hard for Harimau Malaya to cope with the world number 23 side’s prowess as Malaysia were nowhere near their level.
“It’s not going to be easy for head coach Kim Pan-gon’s charges when they go against them as they are miles ahead of us. I have been observing their gameplay in this tournament, and they are good with their fast-paced attacks and their defensive duties.
“At the same time, the South Koreans will go all out against us as it’s going to be a do-or-die mission for them, and Pan-gon by now should have come up with a plan to stop the attacking trio of Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan and Lee Kang-in.
“Pan-gon should also be careful with his substitutions in the future after what happened in the last match where he brought in Natxo Insa for Mohamed Syamer Kutty Abba despite him playing so well. I understand that Pan-gon was trying to save him from getting a second yellow card, but Pan-gon could have brought in a better holding midfielder instead.
“South Korea will punish us if we give them too much space, but anything can happen in football, and I hope the players show up and come back home with a decent result, especially for the millions of fans that support Harimau Malaya,” said Azraai when contacted by Scoop.
At the same time, Azraai also commended Harimau Malaya’s efforts in the tournament in their opening two matches and hoped to see the players learn as much as they could by playing in the prestigious tournament.
“As a whole, we can take a lot of positives from Malaysia’s performance in the tournament, especially after making a comeback to the tournament on merit in 42 years. The efforts shown by the players have been good as they were playing passionately for the badge.
“Even though we lost in our opening match, I appreciate the way the players bounced back after our opening day defeat against Jordan, and I love the way they played against Bahrain. But football can be cruel sometimes, as they fell to an unlucky defeat.
“I hope they can learn as much as they can in this tournament and, using the knowledge that they have learned, apply it in their upcoming matches in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers,” Azraai added.
Malaysia were eliminated from the tournament’s group stage in their fourth appearance at the continental cup – having previously played in the 1976, 1980 and 2007 editions – after consecutive defeats to Jordan (4-0) and Bahrain (1-0).
Currently, Malaysia sit bottom of Group E with zero points.
In Harimau Malaya’s last Asian Cup appearance in 2007, they conceded 12 goals and scored only one in their three group matches (China 1-5, Uzbekistan 0-5 and Iran 0-2). – January 25, 2024