PETALING JAYA: National No. 1 goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat is ashamed of the 10-0 pummeling the national football team suffered at the hands of the United Arab Emirates.
But he and his team-mates will have the chance to put Thursday’s humiliating loss behind them when they take on another Middle East giant – Saudi Arabia – at the Shah Alam Stadium on Tuesday.
“Malu (shameful),” said Khairul when asked about the team’s capitulation in a World Cup qualifying second round Asian Zone Group A match at the Mohamed Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
The defeat led to national coach Dollah Salleh resigning from his post on arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Friday.
Khairul started the match but was replaced by Dollah after 25 minutes – after conceding four goals.
“It’s not that something went wrong ... it was because of our own ‘prestasi’ (performance),” said a disappointed Khairul as he tried to make sense of the national team’s worst defeat since the 8-2 loss to New Zealand in Kuala Lumpur in 1967.
Now, interim coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee needs to pick up the pieces as he takes charge over the players’ training session at Wisma FAM on Saturday.
For a start, five players, including two upstarts from Harimau Muda B – goalkeeper Ramadhan Abdul Hamid and versatile Adam Nor Hazlin – have answered the Football Association of Malaysia’s (FAM) call-up.
The other three are defender Mohd Fadli Shas (Johor Darul Ta’zim), winger Nurridzuan Abu Hassan (Perak) and striker Ahmad Fakri Saarani (Kelantan).
“Time is not on my side and I will make the best with the little time that I have to prepare the team,” said Kim Swee.
Malaysia’s World Cup qualifying campaign is as good as over after collecting just one point from three matches. They were held 1-1 by minnows Timor Leste and trounced 6-0 by war-torn Palestine in their earlier two home matches.
No comments:
Post a Comment