KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s national football coach, Pau Marti Vicente, has described the current Asean Cup campaign as an “unusual situation” due to the domestic league still being in progress and the unavailability of key players.
Despite these challenges, Vicente is confident that his youthful 26-man squad can secure a win against FIFA’s 198th-ranked Timor-Leste in their second Group A match at the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil, tomorrow. Malaysia opened their campaign with a 2-2 draw against Cambodia on Sunday.
“This is a very unusual situation. The league is ongoing, we don’t have all our players available, and our preparation time has been very short. It’s not ideal.
“However, we’ll approach the match with intensity and the right attitude. This is not a friendly match. We want to progress, and we missed an opportunity to do that against Cambodia,” the Spanish coach said at today’s pre-match press conference.
Vicente emphasised that securing victory is more important than scoring a large number of goals, even though Timor-Leste suffered a 10-0 defeat to tournament favourites Thailand in their opener.
“The rankings don’t matter as much in tournaments like this. We must stay focused, show character, and perform our best, especially in front of our home fans,” he added.
The coach admitted to envying the atmosphere in Cambodia’s packed Olympic Stadium during Malaysia’s first match and hopes to draw more fans to Bukit Jalil when Malaysia faces Singapore in 10 days.
“I understand tomorrow’s crowd may not be the same, but I hope our performance will bring fans back—especially for the Singapore game,” he said.
With Thailand awaiting over the weekend, Vicente hinted at rotating his squad but maintained that tomorrow’s match is the immediate priority.
“I have 26 players, and all of them are capable of contributing. We’ll assess the squad carefully, but for now, our focus is on getting the job done against Timor-Leste,” he concluded.
Vicente, who is set to step down after the Asean Cup, aims to end his tenure on a high note despite the challenges, concluding that there is no greater joy for a coach than to develop and see younger players grow. – December 10, 2024