Lots of room for improvement, says Cheng Hoe

PETALING JAYA: National team coach Tan Cheng Hoe reckons that there is plenty of room for improvement after chalking his third win with the team.

The Harimau Malaya completed a comefrom-behind 3-1 win over Cambodia in a friendly match at the Phnom Penh National Olympic Stadium on Monday.

The Cambodians – ranked 166 in the world – took the lead through Soeuy Visal in the 18th minute to the delight of the team’s new Japanese coach Keisuke Honda.

But the world No. 171 Malaysia turned on the afterburner in the second half with goals from Shahrul Saad (62nd minute), Syazwan Andik Ishak (74th) and Shahrel Fikri Mohd Fauzi deep into added time.

The win was the right tonic needed for the Harimau Malaya who were beaten 2-0 by Taiwan in an earlier friendly played at the Taipei Municipal Stadium on Friday.

“The players bounced back with a better performance today even though we conceded an early goal. I have to compliment the players for their fighting spirit,” said Cheng Hoe.

“I want to see the players to be more composed playing in front of a partisan crowd in the future. There’s a lot of positives in our team but also a lot of weaknesses. We still have October and November to prepare further for the AFF Cup.”

Cheng Hoe said that his substitutes delivered the results but their next encounter against Cambodia in the AFF Cup Group A opener on Nov 8 will be tougher.

“When the fresh players came in, it gave an impact on the game. Some of the other players had featured in the Asian Games and the Taiwan game, so they were not fresh,” added the former international.