Pan Gon, Son laud M’sia after famous S. Korea draw
Kim Pan Gon praised the outstanding performance of Harimau Malaya as they secured a 3-3 draw against two-time champions South Korea in their last Group E match of the 2023 Asian Cup at Al Janoub Stadium on Thursday.
The 54-year-old coach also thanked the Malaysian government, the Football Association of Malaysia, clubs and fans for their support towards the team.
Pan Gon admitted the difficulty in motivating his players before the match given they were already eliminated from the tournament.
But he had challenged them to test themselves against South Korea’s Europe-based stars, and was rewarded with “an amazing performance”.
“For us, a fantastic result. We told the players that we’re facing Asia’s top team, Premier League top scorer and Bundesliga defender. So it’s a great challenge,” said Pan Gon, himself a South Korean.
“I’m very proud of my players. Korea is top quality... We will gain a lot from this experience,” he told a press conference after the match.
Commenting on the opponents, Pan Gon said: “We found some Korean weak points but given our level, it was not easy to exploit. Teams can struggle sometimes against teams who play compactly but hopefully, Korea can go far,” he said.
Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min also commended the resilience and creativity displayed by Malaysia.
“It was a tough result to take, but big credit to the Malaysian team. They fought until the end and I’m very pleased to see their creative football… Malaysia did a fantastic job... it was really good for the football fans,” the South Korea skipper said.
Commenting further, Son hoped that Malaysia would continue to build positively on this result.
“Especially for the coach I’m very happy and pleased. I hope they can continue to work positively after this result,” the 31-year-old player added.
Faisal Halim said although the draw against the much higherranked South Koreans was encouraging, the team still could not accept their defeats in the first two matches in the group.
“We will try to bounce back in the 2026 World Cup qualifying round and at least learn from the results here,” he said.
Commenting on the match, Faisal, who scored Malaysia’s first goal, said the squad knew it was difficult game.
However, he said Pan Gon’s approach and the players’ high work rate throughout the match were key to their success in denying South Korea a victory.
“It was tough playing against South Korea. We closed a gap here, they opened up one over there,” said the 26-year-old Selangor FC player, adding that they were extremely exhausted after the game.
Jeong Woo-yeong gave the Koreans the lead in the 21st minute, only for Malaysia to come roaring back with two goals early in the second half from Faisal and Arif Aiman, the latter from the spot.
Some of the Malaysian fans were in tears as they contemplated a famous win.
But Paris Saint-Germain’s Lee Kang-in forced an equalising own goal from Malaysia goalkeeper Syihan Hazmi with a sublime free-kick in the 83rd minute to make it 2-2.
Son thought he had won it for the Koreans when he scored a penalty four minutes into injury time.
A heroic effort was rewarded at the death when Romel Morales pounced deep into injury time.