Time to end nightmare
DETERMINED: Hazwan out to bury ghosts of previous campaigns in Myanmar
ACONFIDENT Ahmad Hazwan Bakri wants to erase the bad memories he experienced with the national youth team in tournaments held in Myanmar in the AFF Cup.
The 25-year-old has emerged as the country’s leading scorer this year with four goals and is now focused on adding to his tally in Group B matches against Cambodia (Sunday), Vietnam (Wednesday) and Myanmar (Nov 26) in Yangon.
In 2012, the Labuan-born was part of the team that failed to get past the Asian Under22 Qualifying round following the controversial 2-1 defeat to Myanmar, who allegedly fielded overage players.
A year later in Naypyidaw, he netted three goals to help Malaysia top their group in the Sea Games but the team failed to earn a medal following a 2-1 defeat to Singapore in the thirdplace playoff. Ong Kim Swee was the coach in both tournaments.
“It will be great to erase those memories. We were unlucky in 2012 and we had a chance to win a medal a year later in the Sea Games. Myanmar is an unhappy ground, not only for me but also for Kim Swee but I hope to make amends this time,” said Hazwan yesterday.
It will be Hazwan’s second AFF Cup outing. In 2012, he was in K. Rajagobal’s squad but did not feature in any match, where Malaysia reached the semi-finals.
Hazwan said he is enjoying the best form of his career and he hopes to help Malaysia finish top two in the group for a semi-final spot.
“I hope to hit the goals and help Malaysia go far in the tournament. Everyone wants to make the final but we should focus first on our group matches. We need to take it one match at the time and do our best in each of them.
“I am feeling confident. Being the country’s top scorer this year has given me added motivation. As a striker, my job is to finish off chances but frankly, it does not matter who scores as long we win,” said Hazwan who has a tally of seven goals in 18 international appearances.
Hazwan, who scored eight goals for Selangor in the M-League, is also excited with the prospect of partnering Darren Lok in attack in the AFF Cup.
“My partnership with Darren looks promising. We did quite well together in the 2-1 win over Papua New Guinea (on Monday), though, there is still room for improvement.
“Darren is physically strong and he can hold the ball to set up play in attack. However, I need to work harder to seal my spot as the team also have options in Safee Sali and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha in attack,” Hazwan added.