Kuantan (8 September, 2013): Revenge the least on the mind of Harimau Muda A coach Ong Kim Swee as his team prepares to take on Myanmar in their second match of the 41st Merdeka Tournament at the Darulmakmur Stadium in Kuantan tomorrow night.

For all Kim Swee wants is a decent performance from his charges and three points that will move them closer to a place in Saturday’s final.

The soft spoken coach was responding to questions from the Media who wanted to know if revenge was the key word since Myanmar had defeated Malaysia 2-1 last year in the AFC Under-22 Asian Cup.

“Revenge to me is a bad word. We should not be to focussed on that but in turn play well to get a positive result,” said Kim Swee at a pre-match press conference in Kuantan today.

“We need to take positives from the defeat and learn from it. Let us not get worked up in gaining revenge for we must also look ahead as we will also face Myanmar in the Sea Games this December.

“This Myanmar team is far better than the side we faced last year so I expect a closer match. They have the advantage of having trained together as a team while we are in a transition period as we only have been together for a week.”

Kim Swee was particularly impressed by the performances of Kyaw Zayar Win, Kyi Lin and Kyaw Ko Ko whom he deemed as potential match winners and the players who are likely to give the most problems to the Malaysian team.

The lethal combination of Myanmar’s Kyi Lin (No.8) and team captain Kyaw Zayar Win have gained the respect of the opposition team

“Zayar Win has good vision and is their playmaker while Kyi Lin has good dribbling skills and eliminates opposing defenders well. As for Ko Ko, he is fast with the ball and can cause damage if left unchecked,” said Kim Swee.

He added that changes are likely in his team line-up against Myanmar and did not discount the possibility of even playing a different tactical game.

“What we have to realise is that we need to be mentally strong in this clash and not make mistakes in defence that will not go unpunished,” said Kim Swee.

“While I am happy with the overall performance of the players against Singapore, that is not a true reflection of our ability as we can play better. The important thing is that the players must realise this and I am confident they will raise their level of play.”

While the coach sounded optimistic, Wan Zack Haikal, who missed a penalty against Singapore, was not too happy with his performance in the match.

“I am sorry for missing the penalty but that did not affect my performance. I felt that overall I did not play as well as I am capable off and vow to put up a better performance against Myanmar,” said Wan Zack.

“We must be wary of the tactical approach of the Myanmar side as they play a tight game both in midfield and defence.”

Meanwhile Junior Eldstal who made his Harimau Muda A debut in the match against Singapore is looking forward to strutting his stuff against Myanmar.

“Myanmar is a good side from what I saw against Thailand and I believe they will come out with guns blazing against us,” said Eldstal who was denied a goal by the bar in the match against Singapore.

“Football is a team sport and we need to work together to achieve results. I am capable of playing better and hopefully with a dry pitch we can hold our own against Myanmar.”

FIXTURES:

Sept 9 (Monday): Thailand v Singapore (5.30pm); Malaysia v Myanmar (8.45pm)

Sept 11 (Wednesday):  Malaysia v Thailand (Stadium Darul Makmur, 8.45pm);                 Singapore v Myanmar (Stadium Temerloh, 8.45pm)

Sept 14 (Saturday): Third-fourth placing playoff (5.30pm); Final (8.45pm). Both matches will be played at Stadium Darul Makmur.

Released by Shekhinah PR on behalf of Astro & ProEvents.

For further information please contact:

Christopher Raj

Shekhinah PR / 012 – 2161881

chris@shekhinah.my

Aaron

Shekhinah PR /017 – 640 2472

aaron@shekhinah.my

Johan Noortheen

Shekhinah PR / 012 – 5152812

johan@shekhinah.my