Admits His Team Is Difficult To Match Indonesia, Malaysia Coach: They Have Fast Players

JAKARTA - The coach of the Malaysian national team, Tan Cheng Hoe, admitted that it was difficult for his squad to keep up with the intensity of playing Indonesia in the final match of Group B of the 2020 AFF Cup, last Sunday night, losing 1-4.

"The intensity of the match was high and unfortunately we couldn't field our two centre-backs. That's what made our back line unstable. Of course we are disappointed with this defeat," Tan said in a virtual press conference after the match on Sunday night, quoted by Antara.

The two defenders Tan is referring to are Aidil Zafuan and Shahrul Saad, who are unable to compete due to injury.

According to him, Malaysia actually started the match with an attacking mindset to get a goal because only victory brought Malaysia to the semifinals.

However, what happened was the opposite. Malaysia was often under pressure despite taking the lead in the 13th minute through Kogileswaran Raj's goal.

After that goal, the Malayan Tigers were never really able to get out of Indonesia's confinement and finally lost 1-4.

"Indonesia has fast players, so does the game. However, we conceded the goal due to our carelessness. Now is the time for us to prepare for the next competitions," said Tan.

Malaysia's failure to beat Indonesia made them fail to qualify from the 2020 AFF Cup group stage.

This achievement is similar to what they recorded in the 2016 AFF Cup.

Meanwhile, Indonesia qualified for the 2020 AFF Cup semifinals as winners of Group B and in the semifinals they will face the second-ranked Group A team, Singapore. The first leg of that match will take place on 22 December and the second leg 25 December 2021.