Sumareh ready to double up as defender against Thais

KUALA LUMPUR: Winger Mohamadou Sumareh is ready to play a more defensive role in the first leg of the AFF Suzuki Cup semi-final against Thailand at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil tonight.

The 24-year-old who has been Harimau Malaya’s attacking threat on the right flank, doesn’t mind doing the dirty work in order to get a win.

The Gambia-born attacker said he’s feeling confident and excited for the match and the support from the fans will be a massive motivation for the team.

“Thailand are one of the favourites in the tournament and the winners of the last edition as well. So we will go there and give everything. We will play as we have been doing and follow our game plan,” said Sumareh at the pre-match news conference yesterday.

“This game against Thailand will be a completely different ball game. We all need to work extra hard and help each other out from the start to the end of the 90 minutes.”

“It all depends on the situation, I guess in this game I will have to run more with Syahmi (Safari). We all will have to run a lot more and work well together. And hopefully we can get a good result.”

Meanwhile, Thailand’s leftback Korrakot Wiriyaudomsiri said his teammates are well prepared for the match and warned his teammates that they should not underestimate the Malaysian players.

“Malaysia have good players who I feel are among the top ones in South-East Asia region and I believe we have a tough fight on our hands playing in a big stadium,” said the 30-year-old.

“We are all ready for this game and hopefully we can get a positive result from this game. I think it’s important for us to score before the second leg.”