KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s national football head coach Kim Pan-gon on Monday (Jan 2) called Singapore a team that “plays to defend”, ahead of their 2022 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Mitsubishi Electric Cup group match decider on Tuesday.
His counterpart Takayuki Nishigaya said however that the Lions – who only need a draw to qualify for the semifinals – will aim to play aggressively in their away tie at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.
Singapore’s tactical approach has not changed much since the last time the two teams met in an international friendly in March 2022, said Kim during a pre-match press conference.
The game ended in a 2-1 win for Singapore’s Lions at home, giving the South Korean his first defeat at the helm of Malaysia’s national team.
He said Singapore’s gameplay contradicted the tactical approach of his side, which he described as more proactive and in search of “high-quality”, entertaining games.
“To me (Singapore) in last March and this tournament not much different … They care about defensive, drop down and look for a counter-attack but Malaysia is different,” said Kim.
“We want to be proactive, we want to dominate the game, give energetic and dynamic football play to achieve a win so we are different from them.
“But I think they have their own style and we will fully respect their style and approach,” he added.
After Singapore’s goalless draw against Vietnam last Friday, Malaysia have no choice but to record a win to qualify for the semifinals, to avoid an early exit for the second consecutive edition of the regional tournament.
Kim said he expects Singapore to stick with a defensive approach for their encounter in Bukit Jalil on Tuesday evening.
“They will use their full advantage to drop down and pack the defence to secure … So depends on us, no one will help us. We will go there and try to … deliver a win to the fans and that is our job,” said the 53-year-old.
Kim said his players were aware of the significance of the match and the need for each individual to maintain focus to secure three points.
“I believe our Harimau Malaya players are very matured and professional. Tomorrow they will respect the opponent and play the right approach to fight. I believe through this approach we can deliver a good performance and also hopefully we can deliver good results to fans,” he said.