PETALING JAYA: National men’s football team, Harimau Malaya, are hoping to end over a decade of trophy drought by winning the 2024 Pestabola Merdeka tomorrow.
Ranked 134th in the world, Harimau Malaya, now coached by Spaniard Pau Marti Vicente, are set to face Lebanon (ranked 116th) in the final at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, tomorrow night (9 pm), after last having lifted the title in the 2013 edition, besides the 2010 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Cup victory.
Vicente said Harimau Malaya are ready for the final in the endevour to rejuvenate the national team and give fresh hopes to the fans .
“This group of players is playing together for a long time now, and they know each other and I think they went through a lot of things together. They deserve to get this trophy, that’s why this has to be my motivation as coach, to help them achieve this Merdeka tournament success.
“Even though it is difficult to be perfect in football, we try to have our best to be organised in attacking and defending as we expect a very tough opponent. We must be very strong, very solid, and be more aggressive when we have the chances in front of goal,” he said in a pre match press conference here, today.
Commenting on Harimau Malaya’s worrying record against the physically stronger Middle Eastern teams, Vicente, who was assistant to former head coach Kim Pan Gon, said the team will be tactically and mentally prepared for the challenge.
“In the last two years, we play against very strong opponents, similar to Lebanon. We had played Oman, Jordan and Syria, which I think are quite similar.
“But we learned from it, so we need to show how we can adapt on these situations, and sometimes these games can be very difficult to predict, but I think we need to be ready for that tactically, first and then mentally,” he said.
Malaysia had never won a game in six recent matches against the Middle East teams like Syria, Oman, Jordan and Bahrain in various competitions.
He also congratulated Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin for being conferred with the Darjah Panglima Setia Mahkota (PSM), which carries the title ‘Tan Sri’ today in conjunction with His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia’s official birthday.
Meanwhile, captain Dion Cools hopes to see more fans at the stadium tomorrow to boost the team’s morale, as only a small number turned up for the first game against the Philippines on Wednesday, due to a boycott reportedly stemmed from dissatisfaction with various issues, including management of the national team, alleged mismanagement in the FAM and Malaysian League matches.
“I really hope we can get as many fans as possible in the stands, they supportive of us and we actually need them to give us some extra energy. We wish all the fans would come support us on Sunday, as we really need them,” he said.
Cools, who might be the first skipper to lift a trophy for Harimau Malaya in 11 years, said he was not pressured by it, after having played in two finals - the 2022 Thai King’s Cup and 2023 Pestabola Merdeka.
“Yes, some opponent players might have some information about our team, I think we just need to focus on ourselves, look at what they’re doing and try to achieve the best we can tomorrow. This is another opportunity to win a trophy for us,” the 28-year-old defender added.
Malaysia, the 12-time champion, advanced to final after beating the Philippines 2-1, while Lebanon ousted defending champions Tajikistan 1-0.
