Serbegeth does not see Malaysia as favourites

national player Serbegeth Singh does not consider Malaysia a favourite to win the AFF Cup despite the relatively easy draw they have received for the preliminaries.

The national squad have been drawn in Group A alongside 2008 winners Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos while defending champions Thailand are in Group B with Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and either Brunei or Timor Leste.

Serbegeth believes the favourable draw is no guarantee that Malaysia will progress considering they have only recently ended a 12-match run without a win prior to beating minnows Bhutan 7-0 on April 1.

“If you look at Group A, Vietnam are clearly the favourites. Myanmar and Cambodia are both teams who are on the rise, so you have to expect them to be at a better level this time,” said Serbegeth yesterday.

“At the moment we are not the favourites, we are not a strong team in the Southeast Asian region anymore.

“But we can use the situation to spring a surprise on the other teams and progress to the semis.”

At the 2016 edition in Yangon, Datuk Ong Kim Swee’s squad failed to progress from the early rounds after beating Cambodia 3-2, but succumbed to 1-0 losses to Vietnam and Myanmar.

Serbegeth added that the 12th edition of the competition should be a platform for Tan Cheng Hoe to start afresh after the internal issues that have held the team back in recent years.

“I hope Cheng Hoe will use this chance to build a new team, what is important is stability. There have been a lot of issues over the past two to three years — changes in coaches, player retirements and also unexpected recalls — so we want stability this time. We need players who can form the core of the team.”

The national team will open their campaign against Cambodia in Phnom Penh on Nov 8 before taking on Laos at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Nov 12. This will be followed by Vietnam in Hanoi (Nov 16) and Myanmar at home (Nov 24).