‘It’s far from settled’
Still some way before Malaysia get act right, says Adib
MALAYSIA are not there, yet.
Skipper Adib Zainudin (pic) admitted that the team have yet to discover their playing rhythm in the men’s Under-23 football competition although they’ve chalked up two straight wins against Brunei ( 2- 1) and Singapore (2-1) in their Group A campaign.
The centreback, who forms a three-man defence with Irfan Zakaria and Adam Nor Azlin, is far from convinced with their performance after leaking five goals in their last five matches.
In the 2018 AFC Under-23 Championship qualifiers in Bangkok last month, the team let in three goals in three matches.
In the two SEA Games matches thus far, they’ve conceded two more.
“Our defensive record is not so good because we are conced- ing one goal per match. It’s quite disappointing to leak in goals because of our own mistakes,” said Adib, who plays for Felcra in the third tier of the FAM Cup competition.
“We are not playing to the best of our abilities in the SEA Games.
“We are struggling to find our rhythm actually.
“The high expectation on us to do well may be one of the reasons but after two wins I think we should be more composed now.
“We are also working very hard in training to gel as a team and rectify our mistakes in defence.”
Malaysia are in the driver’s seat to qualify for the semi-finals after two straight wins. They need one more point from their two remaining matches to clinch their ticket to the last four.
They will face Myanmar on Aug 21 before wrapping up their group fixtures against Laos on Aug 23.
The match against leaders Myanmar is likely decide the group champions. Malaysia hold a psychological advantage as they had defeated Myanmar 2-0 in a friendly at the Shah Alam Stadium on July 13.
The 22-year-Adib feels that the five-day break before the Myanmar match should get them back to their best.
“Some of the players are tired after playing non-stop in the M-League.
“So this long break is a huge relief for us,” said the Mersing local.
“I hope the players will be sharper after this break and we’ll have no problems regaining our rhythm.”