TAKING THE SHINE OFF THE EMERALDS
Harimau Malaya ready for Turkmenistan test
THE statistics against Central Asian teams do not favour Malaysia. However, a hungry Harimau Malaya have promised to put on a great show when they face Turkmenistan in their opening Asian Cup qualifier at National Stadium in Bukit Jalil today.
While this is the first-ever meeting between world No 154 Malaysia and 134th-ranked Turkmenistan, Harimau Malaya’s record against Central Asian teams have never been impressive.
In the last seven years, Malaysia have lost five times in as many matches to world No 83 Uzbekistan, conceding 19 goals and scoring only two.
The team also lost to world No 114 Tajikistan (4-1) in a friendly in 2014 and 95th-ranked Kyrgyzstan (1-0) in 2018.
However, Malaysia had defeated Tajikistan 1-0 in a friendly in 2019 — which was the country’s last meeting against a Central Asian side.
Central Asian players may not be necessarily skilful but are wellbuilt, which offers them an advantage over other teams in Asia.
Malaysia, however, are confident going into the match after their wins over world 147 Hong Kong (20) and minnows Brunei (4-0) in recent friendlies last week.
However, the qualifiers are a different ball game, and the Malaysian players will have to up their performance in today’s Group E game.
The six group winners and the five best runners-up will qualify for the Asian Cup next year, joining 13 other teams.
For the record, Malaysia have not qualified for the Asian Cup on merit since the 1980 edition.
Malaysia were joint hosts when they played in the 2007 edition.
National coach Kim Pan Gon believes seven points from Group E will be enough to qualify for the Asian Cup.
The 53-year-old added that veteran midfielder Safiq Rahim and winger Akyhar Rashid, who missed training on Monday due to minor injuries, will be ready for Turkmenistan.
“We have been waiting for this competition for a long time, and we are excited to get going. We are ready to give something special to Malaysian fans.
“We will try our best to get the best results,” said Pan Gon in the pre-match conference in Subang yesterday,
“I want my boys to dominate and win tomorrow’s match. We will play this same approach in other games as well. The players are ready, and we have analysed our opponents.
“I am confident we can get a positive result. I think seven points will put us in a good position for an Asian Cup spot.
“Turkmenistan, I believe have their targets for this match. Their coach has been with the team for a long time, and they will be ready for us.”
Pan Gon added he has assembled the best players in Malaysia to get the job done.
“I hope they will show good attitude and spirit to fight for Malaysia and the fans,”
Turkmenistan coach Yazguly Hojageldyyew is in a cautious mode coming ahead of the game.
The Emeralds had missed a year of competitive matches due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hojageldyyew’s men have been in Malaysia for more than a week to acclimatise to the weather.
They had lost 1-0 to Thailand in Bangkok before arriving in Malaysia.
Turkmenistan will be banking on 32-year-old striker Arslanmyrat Amanow to lead their qualifying campaign.
Captain Amanow has scored 13 goals in 49 appearances for his country.
“We did not have much time to prepare for the qualifiers due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We would have been better prepared if we had more matches to play,” said Hojageldyyew, who guided his team to the 2019 Asian Cup.
“We will have to find solutions. It will be hard for everyone as our matches are in the evening and night.
“Amanow is a good player, but we do not rely only on him to win games.”