KUALA LUMPUR – The Harimau Malaya squad, especially the country’s third naturalised player Guilherme de Paula, have come under fire following their 4-0 capitulation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) early this morning.
The 34-year-old Brazil-born striker seemed lacklustre throughout the 90 minutes and was hardly involved during the Group G second-round 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup qualifying match at the Zabeel Stadium in Dubai.
Social media trolls slammed the player, including some wanting to sell him on the e-commerce portals for as low as 50 sen.
Many Harimau Malaya fans also questioned why De Paula was not substituted while others, who did better, were.
Harimau Malaya head coach Tan Cheng Hoe said it was because the coaching panel believed that the Brazilian was capable of getting an equaliser.
“We had faith because he had the physical size and the finishing. We were thinking positively because we were only down 1-0 then. So, we thought we could get an equaliser through De Paula,” he said in a virtual media conference from Dubai today.
Asked if De Paula would continue to be in the starting 11 in the two remaining matches against Vietnam (June 11) and Thailand (June 15), Cheng Hoe said they would discuss and find the best combination.
“I feel that we can’t just blame one or two players for our loss to the UAE. Every player did not play to their best ability,” he said, adding that the UAE were far better prepared compared to the national team, who only had two weeks to train.
The challenge for Cheng Hoe now is to boost the players’ motivation and determination for the two remaining must-win matches.
Meanwhile, Cheng Hoe praised the backline, especially Dion Cools (of Belgian-Malaysian parentage), who was quick to blend in despite it being his debut with the Harimau Malaya.
“With his experience, having played at the highest level in Europe, he was calm and he was also tactically and technically spot-on. His reading of the game was also good. We hope he will be able to help raise the team’s standard and guide the younger players so that the country’s football future will be brighter,” the coach said.
In a daze
The National team manager Datuk Yusoff Mahadi meanwhile is still scratching his head wondering how the Harimau Malaya could play so poorly that they were thrashed 4-0 by the United Arab Emirates at the Zabeel Stadium in Dubai early this morning.
He said the presence of some “big names” in the Harimau Malaya squad, under head coach Tan Cheng Hoe, had given rise to hopes of the team giving The Whites a run for their money in their Group G second-round 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup qualifying match.
With hopes high of the team being able to secure at least a draw, he admitted to being shocked by the team’s collapse in the last 10 minutes of the match, which saw the UAE score three times for an emphatic win.
Yusoff, who is also the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president, believes that among the reasons for the team’s lacklustre display were the players’ lack of understanding and failure to provide protection to the backline as they searched for an equaliser.
“Unfortunately, the midfielders and attackers failed to shine. The quality of our players this time is way better compared to previous teams, but they still could not function as a unit and follow the coach’s tactical plan.
“It was as if the players were not as committed as we had hoped for and did not play with aggression. We will conduct a post-mortem with the coaches and find the best solution ahead of two more crucial games after this,” he said in a virtual press conference from Dubai today.
He also attributed the defeat to the team’s lack of time to train as a unit and play in friendly matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In today’s match, prolific hitman Ali Mabkhout (18th, 90+1 minutes) and their naturalised player from Brazil, Fabio Lima (83rd, 90+2), bagged a brace each for a comfortable win for the UAE.
Yusoff, who was full of praise for the defenders and goalkeeper Mohd Farizal Marlias for thwarting the waves of UAE attacks, however, acknowledged that the better team won.
“The presence of Dion Cools (of Malaysian-Belgian parentage) strengthened our defence,” he said, while admitting that he (Cools) performed way better compared to the two naturalised players, Guilherme de Paula and Liridon Krasniqi
Yusoff, however, denied suggestions that the two naturalised players failed to perform as they didn’t have sufficient time to train with the Harimau Malaya squad and cited Mohamadou Sumareh as an example of someone who also took some time before being able to display his true form.
“De Paula only missed one chance, we did not create too many chances. We can’t hope to score from the very first opportunity against a strong side like the UAE. If we did, we would have been very lucky.
“He helped out a lot in midfield and forgot his main duty as a goal scorer. As he dropped deep into midfield, he was slow to get back to his position as a forward. Perhaps it’s also due to fatigue as it was very hot,” he said.
Malaysia will now take on Vietnam on Friday (June 11) and Thailand (June 15) to complete their Group G fixtures.
