Courtesy: New Straits Times


Sea Games: Taking one match at a time

MALAYSIA will be taking it one match at a time as they put thoughts of making the men’s futsal final on the backburner for the moment.

Coach P. Balakrishnan is looking no further than the opening Group A match against the Philippines today at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium in Bangkok with Malaysia looking to immediately secure their semi-final berth.

“This is our most important match of the group stage as Thailand are runaway favourites for the gold while we should not have much difficulty in beating Myanmar,” Balakrishnan said after yesterday’s training.

“The Phlippines have been strengthened by the inclusion of four Iranians but I have full confidence in my players. We will play to our strengths and we are fully focused on getting to the semi-finals first.”

But the injury-enforced absence of skipper Mohd Saiful Md Noor, who scored five goals at the AFF Futsal Championships in Bangkok in March, will be sorely felt.

“Saiful is out after undergoing surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament and there was no way he could be fit in time. He is the team captain and scores most of our goals so we are going to really miss his influence,” said Balakrishnan.

Malaysia beat the Philippines 12-3 at the AFF tournament where they also met Indonesia (2-2) and Vietnam (6-6), teams that Malaysia could again face in the semi-finals here. In Macau, Malaysia lost 8-1 to Thailand in a group match.

Kelantan’s Farahiyah Mohd Ridzuan, who only turns 14 on Dec 20 and is widely acknowledged as the most skilful player in the women’s squad, is set to lead the team when they also open their campaign against the Philippines today.



Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com