PETALING JAYA: The tactical game plan applied by head coach of the Harimau Malaya squad, Pau Marti Vicente, has been successfully assimilated by the national players to face the 2024 Merdeka Tournament final against Lebanon at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium here this Sunday.
This was acknowledged by game-changing winger Muhammad Safawi Rasid himself, who described the national team as having bright opportunities and ready to close the curtain on the 43rd edition of the competition on a winning note.
“For me and the team, everyone can catch up with Vicente’s tactical formation, so there is no problem. We just follow his instructions.
“We reported to him for less than a week of practice, but we can safely say that there is already a lot of compatibility, so give it more time and we will be a much sharper outfit,” he said during a training session at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya here today.
Safawi emerged as one of the protagonists in Malaysia’s resurgence during the match in defeating the Philippines (ranked world 147th) 2-1, describing the winning goal (from a penalty) he scored as an injection of self-motivation to step up on his match performance in the final.
“It’s good for my self-confidence for the final if I’m fielded, so I’m excited to play,” he said.
In the final this Sunday, Malaysia, ranked 134th in the world will face Lebanon (113th in the world) who beat the defending champions Tajikistan 1-0 earlier.
Malaysia have been Merdeka Tournament champion 12 times, with the last success in the 2013 edition.
