KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia may have trounced Cambodia 4-0 in the first of their two Tier 1 international friendly matches at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Friday (Dec 9) but there is still one significant weakness that they need to work on in the backline.
And that, according to defender Sharul Nazeem Zulpakar (pix), is consistency.
“I feel that we played better in the first half compared to after the break… although that could be due to fatigue and loss of focus.
“So, we (the defenders) must learn from this and rectify it ahead of our next friendly (against Maldives next week),” said the Selangor FC defensive stalwart, who played the full 90 minutes against Cambodia, when met by Bernama here.
The 23-year-old also admitted that the midfielders played well against Cambodia, with debutants Stuart Wilkin and David Rowley providing ample support in the engine room.
“Stuart and David played quite well, especially in winning the second balls, so that made it easier for us in defence,” said Sharul Nazeem, who hopes to be named in the 24-man final squad for the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Cup 2022 from Dec 20-Jan 16.
The Harimau Malaya, under the guidance of coach Kim Pan Gon, will play their second Tier 1 international friendly against the Maldives at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium in Cheras on Wednesday (Dec 14) before starting their AFF Cup Group B campaign against Myanmar in Yangon on Dec 21.
Malaysia will then take on Laos in Bukit Jalil on Dec 24, followed by Vietnam in Hanoi (Dec 27) and Singapore in Bukit Jalil (Jan 3).
The Harimau Malaya, who emerged as champions in 2010 and runners-up in 2018, crashed out in the group stage of the 2020 edition in Singapore. – Bernama
