KUALA LUMPUR – All eyes will be on the national football team, who have undergone two weeks of intensive training, to do their best when they take on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the second round of the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup qualifiers in Dubai today (12.45 am Friday Malaysian time).
Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican said he appreciated the commitment shown by the Harimau Malaya players as well as the team management.
He said that no matter who is fielded by head coach Tan Cheng Hoe for the match at the Zabeel Stadium in Dubai, every player should repay the faith shown in them by giving their best.
“Aidil Zafuan, as the skipper, should lead the team, goalkeeper Farizal Marlias protect the goalmouth well, so too all the other players we are counting on like Safawi, Matt Davies, Sumareh and De Paula as well as all the others I did not mention… just give your best,” he said in a video clip on his official Facebook page today.
Reezal Merican also urged all Harimau Malaya fans to continue to support the team by watching the game live on TV1 and Astro Arena at 12.45 am tomorrow.
After the UAE game, Malaysia will continue their Group G campaign in the qualifiers by taking on Vietnam on June 11 and Thailand on June 15 in Dubai.
Malaysia are currently in second spot in Group G with nine points, two behind leaders Vietnam while Thailand are third with eight points, the UAE fourth with six points (but with a game in hand) and Indonesia last with not a single point.
Friendly matches benefited team
Though the Harimau Malaya lost both friendly matches ahead of the second round of the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup qualifiers campaign against the United Arab Emirates (UAE), head coach Tan Cheng Hoe said the games benefited his charges.
The 53-year-old coach said despite the national squad’s 1-4 defeat against Kuwait and 0-2 loss to Bahrain, the matches still served their purpose to keep his boys prepared for the Group G campaign after about an 18-month layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We chose to play against Kuwait and Bahrain due to similarities in their playing styles with UAE, and at the same time we need to quickly acclimatise to the weather and time zone in the Middle East. I think these two matches have benefited our team.
“We have been observing the teams, I see UAE have had very good preparations, even though with this pandemic, they still had some friendly matches. We had a short training camp in Dubai, I wish our players are ready for the match,” he told the pre-match press conference in Dubai, last night.
The recording of the press conference was obtained from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
Malaysia, who are ranked 153 in the world, are set to face a tough challenge against world number 73 UAE at the Zabeel Stadium, Dubai tonight (12.45 am Friday in Malaysia).
Meanwhile, skipper Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak, who is aware that the current UAE squad are very much improved from the 2019 squad, who only managed to escape with a narrow 2-1 victory in the first round against Malaysia at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium here.
“We know that they have made a few changes, with naturalised players brought in, but the best players (to be wary of ) are Ali Mabkhout and (naturalised player) Fabio Lima. However, I don’t think that football is only focused on one or two persons, the whole team must focus and the most important thing is our game,” the central defender said.
After roping in three naturalised players – Fabio and Caio Canedo from Brazil as well as Argentinian Sebastian Tagliabue, the Al Abyad (The Whites) have been showing impressive progress, having defeated India 6-0 and Jordan 5-1 in recent matches.
The last time Malaysia managed to defeat the UAE was a 2-0 victory in a friendly back in 1982. Overall, in 14 clashes, Malaysia only managed to win thrice, draw twice and lost nine times, including the team’s worst ever defeat of 10-0 in 2015.
Given the honour
In another development, FAM have confirmed that three Malaysian officials have been given the honour by the International Football Federation (FIFA) to officiate the 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup qualifying matches.
National Referee Zairul Khalil Tan is serving as assistant referee in Group A of the qualifiers at Sharjah, UAE, while FIFA referees Amirul Izwan Yaacob and Mohamad Yusri are set to serve as referee and assistant referee respectively in Group B in Kuwait.
The Group A qualifiers consisting of China, Syria, the Philippines, Maldives and Guam started their campaign on Sunday, while the Group B tier involving Australia, Jordan, Chinese Taipei, Kuwait and Nepal is scheduled to kick off today.
Another Malaysian official, Mohd Arif Shamil on the other hand has been appointed as assistant referee in two matches in the Kirin Challenge Cup 2021 and an international friendly involving Japan’s Under-24 team in Sapporo Dome, Hokkaido, Japan.
Far from his mind
Football meanwhile is the furthest thing from Kelantan United FC (KUFC) defender Fitri Omar’s mind at the moment as his wife, who is three months pregnant, has tested positive for COVID-19.
His wife, Nursuriana Zulkifli tested positive after a swab test last Friday and is now undergoing home quarantine.
“My wife had a fever last week, so I took her for a swab test and, after two days, the doctor confirmed that she had tested positive for COVID-19. I am very worried right now, more so as she is pregnant.
“It’s a very challenging situation because I have only seen others suffering from COVID-19… now my own wife has been infected,” he said in a statement issued by the Malaysian Football League (MFL) today.
Fitri, who has not been infected, is thankful that their other children are not close contacts and are being cared for by their other family members.
Fitri said that he has been excused from attending training until the end of the quarantine period on June 12 although KUFC will be starting their training camp on Monday (May 7).
KUFC are currently fifth in the Premier League standings with 16 points from 11 matches.
