No room for mistakes
Vingada wants national team to play ‘the game of their lives’
PETALING JAYA: National coach Eduardo Vingada wants no more screw ups ahead of their 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers Group B match against Hong Kong on Oct 10.
The Portuguese said “this is the game of our lives” and wants a positive result after Malaysia propped the four-team Group B with just one point from two matches.
Malaysia suffered an opening defeat to Lebanon 2-1 at the Larkin Stadium in Johor Baru on June 13. They were barely seconds away from snatching a point but lost after Rabih Ataya fired a brace (79th and 94th) to give Lebanon full three points.
In their second game against Hong Kong at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Melaka on Sept 5, Malaysia were fortunate to walk away with a point after defender Akram Mahinan conceded a late penalty with the score tied at 1-1.
Luckily for him, goalkeeper Hafizul Hakim Khairul Nizam Jothy saved the penalty.
“We don’t want to look at the past but at the same time I don’t want any excuses. This is the chance for them to make a result and put us back in contention to qualify for the Finals,” said Vingada before a training session at the Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya yesterday.
Lebanon lead the group with seven points, followed by North Korea and Hong Kong – tied two points each from three matches.
Vingada has opted for changes in the squad with the inclusion of six Under-22 players who won the silver medal at the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in August.
They are goalkeeper Ifwat Akmal Chek Kassim (Kedah), Adam Nor Azlin (Selangor), Syamer Kutty Abba (Penang), Safawi Rasid (Johor Darul Ta’zim), Matthew Davies and Nor Azam Abdul Azih (Pahang).
Vingada said every player would get a fair chance to prove themselves.
“I don’t look at their age ... I look at their performance and I have been keeping tabs of their progress with their teams. For me all players are national players,” said Vingada, who will be leaving with the team for Hong Kong today.
Missing from yesterday’s training were seven Johor Darul Ta’zim players – Mohamed Fadhli Shas, Safawi Rasid, Nazmi Faiz Mansor, Safiq Rahim, Amirulhadi Zainal, Ahmad Hazwan Bakri and Darren Lok.
Vingada said the players had to attend a meeting in Johor and it was not a problem.
“Today is just light training and the situation is under control. We have about four days to work with the players when we are in Hong Kong,” added Vingada.
The top two teams from the six groups in the qualifiers will join 12 other sides in the 2019 Finals in the United Arab Emirates.
Twelve teams – defending champions Australia, China, Iraq, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan and hosts UAE – have qualified for the expanded 24-team Finals.