White Angels only fear Malaysia
MYANMAR coach Gerd Zeise is confident his charges will progress together with hosts Malaysia from Group A of the Kuala Lumpur Sea Games (KL2017) football competition.
The German rates Malaysia, led by Ong Kim Swee, as their strongest rivals in Group A, which also features Singapore, Brunei and Laos.
“We cannot underestimate our rivals. Malaysia is a strong team, Singapore are OK we have played them before this (and won), Laos are improving while Brunei are also OK, not too strong,” said Zeise, when met at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) yesterday.
“I hope Malaysia and Myanmar will qualify for the semi-finals.”
Myanmar are one of the favourites in Group A having finished runners-up in the tournament in Singapore two years ago where they went down 3-0 to Thailand in the final.
The White Angels, however, fell short in the under-23 Asian Championships qualifying last month and went down 2-0 to Kim Swee’s charges in a friendly at the Shah Alam Stadium on July 13.
Zeise, who also coaches’ Myanmar’s senior side, is not worried by his players’ recent form.
“Despite some injuries, I have brought my best side here. We did not play well during the (friendly) loss to Malaysia, the condition of the pitch was also bad at the time.
“I believe the Myanmar versus Malaysia match will be interesting and I hope we make it past the group stage and make it to the final.”
Myanmar will open their campaign against Singapore at the Selayang Stadium on Monday. Aziman Rosdi