Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, Minister of Youth and Sports Malaysia described external factors such as the cheers of more than 63,000 supporters as the cause of players losing focus during the match Malaysia against Bahrain in the AFC Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers 3rd round on 11th June.
Faizal, who is also the Member of Parliament for Tambun, said it has become customary for the competition to have winners and losers, therefore all parties are reminded not to cheer when they win if they cannot accept defeat.
Faizal said the loud cheers from the supporters at that time could cause the players to miss the opportunity to score a goal as well as contribute to the defeat of Malaysia to Bahrain.
“As far as I remember, as soon as the first goal saw some players off the field, including Guilherme De Paula will be included at that time, which caused the whole stadium to cheer.” Faizal, said.
“Such cheers cause the players to lose focus, so our squad misses from scoring goals.”
“So if you want to say (defeat) is due to 100 percent of the player factor, in fact we as spectators contribute to the player’s focus.”
“If I was on the field at that time, when people suddenly shouted (cheered), my focus disappeared a bit,”
Credit Photo : Bernama