VINGADA SAYS NATIONAL TEAM NOT READY TO PLAY AT ASIAN LEVEL
Vingada: Malaysia not ready to compete at Asian level
SEPANG: National coach Eduardo Vingada just wants to move on after enduring what is perhaps the worst year in his coaching career.
The Portuguese coach, who took over the team in May, has seen the Harimau Malaya suffer their sixth defeat of the year when they were whipped 4-1 by North Korea in their 2019 Asian Cup Group B qualifying match at the I-Mobile Stadium in Buriram, Thailand on Monday.
Vingada, who was quick to shoulder the blame for the poor results which see the team end the season without a single win, admitted that the team “are not ready to compete at the Asian level”.
“As a coach, I’ve never had a poor record with any team. This is my first such experience. I want to put 2017 behind me and work towards the 2018 AFF Cup,” said the 64-yearold coach after arriving at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport yesterday.
“We didn’t play as badly as the results showed. North Korea were a better side. But I believe we can be better. It’s time to take the positives from the matches this year and improve next year.
“We didn’t have the best players at all the training camps we had due to various reasons. I believe I can bring the team to higher level. I’m positive about our chances in the future but we need to be patient and keep moving forward.”
On Monday, Vingada dished out a few surprises by giving four youngsters – striker Syafiq Ahmad, midfielders Ahmad Khairil Anuar Zamri and Nor Azam Abdul Azih and defender Adam Nor Azlin – their first international caps.
Skipper Safiq Rahim started the match in the second half while several other Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) players, including seasoned Ahmad Hazwan Bakri, Fazly Mazlan and S. Kunalan – were benched.
North Korea raced into a comfortable lead in the first half with Kim Yu-song helping himself to a hattrick in the 15th, 20th and 44th minutes. Pak Kwang-ryong netted the fourth in the 79th minute.
Substitute Safawi Rasid scored Malaysia’s consolation in the 85th minute.
Malaysia remain bottom in the four-team Group B standings with just one point from five matches. They will wrap up their fixture in March against leaders Lebanon, who have 10 points from four matches. North Korea are second with eight points followed by Hong Kong on five points.
In the post-match press conference, Vingada explained that he decided to drop the JDT players to protect them from the heavy criticisms they received after Friday’s poor result (which Malaysia also lost 4-1).
“I saw how the JDT players were affected by comments in the social media. Although they wanted, and were willing, to play, I decided otherwise,” said Vingada
“We brought six Under-23 players here and four started. They featured in both matches and showed no fear. They played with good intensity. That augurs well for our future.”