Singapore can trouble us, says Under-19 coach Bojan

PETALING JAYA: National Under19 coach Bojan Hodak warned his players to expect a stiffer test in their second Asean Football Federation’s ( AFF) Under- 19 Championship match today.

Malaysia opened their campaign with a 4-1 win over Laos on Monday and the Croatian reckons Singapore, who beat Cambodia 5-3 in their opener, will be a tougher opponent at the Aung San Stadium in Yangon.

“Our opening game looked easy because we had players who featured in the Super League and the Premier League. We can only gauge our strength against a formidable opponent like Singapore,” said the former Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) and Kelantan coach yesterday.

“We watched the Singapore match, they are a good attacking side. They are also very disciplined and physically better than the Cambodians.”

“I’m happy the players followed instructions and showed what they have learned in training during matches.”

Hodak said he will change his line-up against Singapore and is using the tournament in Yangon as preparation for the AFC Under-19 Championship qualifiers in South Korea from Oct 31-Nov 8.

“I will have to rotate my squad against Singapore. We are playing a physically demanding tournament with five matches in nine days. I will have to make five to six changes to the line-up and on top of that a few players have minor injuries,” said Hodak.

“I told the players we don’t have a first XI as everybody will have a chance to play and prove themselves to be selected for the AFC qualifiers.”

Malaysia’s other Group A matches in Yangon are against Timor Leste (Friday), Cambodia (Sunday) and Thailand (Tuesday).

Group B consists of Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei, the Philippines and Myanmar.

Last year, the team under German Frank Bernhardt, failed to reach the semi-finals after shock losses to Timor Leste (3-2) and hosts Vietnam (3-1).