Fikri gives Malaysians a few tips on Thais
Malaysia striker Shahrel Fikri, who plays for Thai League 1 side Nakhon Ratchasima, is convinced that his knowledge of Thai football can prove advantageous to his team in the home-and-away 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup semi-finals.
Two-time defending champions Thailand and Malaysia will play the first leg of the semi-finals on Saturday at Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Jalil Stadium with the second leg slated for Dec 5 in Bangkok.
Fikri, who joined the top flight of Thai football following a midyear transfer, is a teammate of Thailand captain Chalermpong Kerdkaew.
“Thailand skipper Chalermpong is also the captain of Nakhon Ratchasima, so I know him very well. I know about his strong and weak points as well,” claimed Fikri.
“I have told my teammates about the Thai players that I have played in the league. They aren’t like the players in the Malaysian Super League at all. They are quite good at both defending and attacking.”
Malaysia coach Tan Cheng Hoe also claimed to know the trick to stop the two top Thai performers, Sanrawat Detchmitr and Adisak Kraisorn.
True Bangkok United midfielder Sanrawat has been in impressive form in the biennial Southeast Asian championship so far, providing five assists, while Adisak has scored eight goals in four matches.
Tan said: “The combination of Sanrawat and Adisak is really dangerous for any opposition.
“Sanrawat is the man providing the bulk of assists for his teammates. If we can stop these two players, I am confident we can post a good result in the game with Thailand.
“I hope that Shahrel Fikri will be able to help our team because he has the experience of playing in the Thai league and can tell us about the strong and weak points of the Thai players.
“They [Thailand] are a good team. We can see that they scored the highest number of goals [15] during the group stage.”
Meanwhile, Thailand defender Pansa Hemviboon isn’t worried about taking on Malaysia in front of tens of thousands of their supporters at the 87,000-capacity Bukit Jalil Stadium.
“It is always hard to play in a semifinal, but this one will be made harder by the atmosphere at the stadium in Kuala Lumpur,” said Pansa.
“We’ll have to concentrate harder but I believe every player in the team can handle the situation. I am looking forward to playing in front of such a large crowd.”