MALAYSIA OUT TO SURPRISE

Win over Kyrgyzstan gives Tigers boost for match against South Korea

MALAYSIA are ready to face South Korea and their ace striker Son Heung-min tomorrow following the impressive 3-1 win over Kyrgyzstan in yesterday’s Asian Games Group E match at the Si Jalak Harupat Stadium.

The attacking trio of Safawi Rasid, Akhyar Rashid and Syafiq Ahmad were the toast by scoring a goal each for the three points in Bandung.

Although, admitting that Korea are a class above, national youth coach Ong Kim Swee said his team will have a chance to cause an upset if they play to tactics and are disciplined in all aspects.

“Korea are the defending champions and they have brought good players here. If we can achieve our full potential then maybe it will be possible to pull off a shocker and surprise our opponents,” said the coach.

On the win yesterday, Kim Swee said: “We were nervous in the opening minutes, but the boys reacted quickly and adapted to the situation, and this was the key to victory today,” said Kim Swee.

“Kyrgyzstan are a good team and they troubled us a lot especially in the opening minutes of the second half. I think we can learn a lot from this match to prepare for Korea.

“There were times that the players could not play to tactics and had problems creating space to move forward as Kyrgyzstan were compact and tight.

“We need to look at technical aspects, and also work on ball transitions from midfield to attack.

“Our forwards did very well today. They were composed in finishing off chances, although, we had created a lot of opportunities.”

Kim Swee made only one change to his 3-4-3 formation line-up that beat the United Arab Emirates 2-0 in a recent friendly by replacing goalkeeper Ifwat Akmal Chek Kassim with Haziq Nadzli.

It was Kyrgyzstan, coached by Igor Kudarenko, who were impressive at the start with Kairat Zhyrgalbek testing the Malaysian defence in the third minute.

But Malaysia slowly got into the game and soon took the lead.

Akhyar earned Malaysia a penalty when he was brought down in the Kyrgyzstan box in the 37th minute. Safawi Rasid stepped in and converted for the opening goal.

Kyrgyzstan started well in the second half and drew level in the 55th minute through a Ernist Batyrkanov header.

Malaysia regained their lead six minutes later when Akhyar reacted first to rifle the ball home off a Safawi square pass.

Safawi again turned provider when his cross was converted by Syafiq in the 78th minute for the win.

Safawi said: “We need to work on our weaknesses from this match before we take on Korea. I also need to be sharper in the opponent’s box.”

After Korea, Kim Swee’s boys will play Bahrain on Monday.