Home crowd support will be extra motivation for us, says Safawi

SHAH ALAM: The Malaysian players want the fans to fill up the Shah Alam Stadium today.

Captain and winger Safawi Rasid has deemed the China vs Malaysia match as a final and hopes the home fans’ support will give them the extra motivation in their last Group J match in the AFC Under-23 Championship qualifiers.

“Our advantage is the fans. We hope they can throng the stadium and intimidate our opponents. For me, this game is like a final and I want our boys to be at their best,” said Safawi.

“It was good to get the three points against Laos but to be honest, we are not satisfied with our display. The game against China is different.

“We’ll be punished if our form is similar to our matches against Laos and the Philippines. We’ve to perform better and be clinical up front. Every chance, especially against China, counts.”

Centreback Dominic Tan said the pressure was on China to win as they have been labelled as the favourites.

“We are the underdogs. The pressure is on China. We’ve beaten big teams before, and I hope we can do that again,” said Dominic.

“China are not like the Philippines or Laos. They’ll be armed with new tactics but we’ll do our best to ensure we qualify automatically for the championship in Thailand.”

China, led by legendary Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, have been imperious in the qualifiers as they thumped Laos 5-0 and annihilated the Philippines 8-0 to top Group J on goal difference.

Malaysia notched a 3-0 victory against the Philippines and struggled to a 1-0 win over Laos.

Goalkeeper Haziq Nadzli is unfazed by China’s high-scoring run in the tournament so far.

“If you work hard, the results will come. On paper, China are the bigger side, but Malaysia can spring a surprise,” said Haziq.