Kim Pan-Gon, head coach of Malaysia’s national team, has no problem ‘roaring’ when facing much stronger troops, but the mental strength factor is the difference between the national team and the opposing team.
This situation was recognised by Kim Pan Gon, who saw his men able to provide fierce competition when facing opponents such as Thailand and Bahrain but still failed to record a win over their opponent.
“We’ve played against stronger teams before and the positive thing is that we started well and scored the first goal. But I don’t think the players were confident in themselves after the lead.” Pan-Gon said.
“They seem uncomfortable if they are in front first, so they have to get used to it. Don’t be surprised because if they are surprised, we struggle, lose the ball, and die.”
“The psychological, mentality and belief factors should be there because players have to believe in themselves. We are on an equal level with the opposing team.”
“Our defence is also good but based on statistics, we always score goals after 75 minutes against strong teams. So players need to focus and maintain concentration until the game is over,”
“We did a good job over the last year and a half winning 16 of the 21 matches we faced but we rarely get a chance against strong teams like Syria and China.”
“So we want to see how far the line-up can improve, and this time window is very important for preparations for the World Cup Qualification in November and also the Asian Cup next year,”
Credit Photo : FAM
