Southeast Asia Malaysia

2018 AFF Cup Final – Opponent Views on Malaysia

By: , December 11, 2018 7:39 pm
Credit – affsuzukicup.com

Malaysia’s possession-based football and energetic attacking style has captivated not only their nation, but football fans across the entire region. After already seeing of Thailand, this rapidly improving team are only two games away from being crowned as the champions of South-East Asia. Find out what their opponents think of them and their chances here:

Tran Tien (Football Tribe Vietnam)

Strengths: Under the guidance of the coach Tan Cheng Hoe, Malaysia has shifted to a far more attacking style. In all their games since the start of the tournament, Malaysia has controlled their matches with superior ball possession. They are likely to maintain this approach when facing Vietnam for the first leg of the final at home.

Weaknesses: Malaysia's defenders have not shown themselves to be reliable and secure. In the their prior match against Vietnam and the second leg aagainst Thailand, they conceded some very simple goal in the situations where they needed to do better.

Player to Watch: Norshahrul Idlan

Obb Deewajin (Football Tribe Thailand)

Strengths: Malaysia's biggest advantage in the first leg of the final is definitely their home supporters. A lot is expected from Park Hang Seo's young side, and they will be under extra pressure away at the Bukit Jalil stadium. Another advantage for the 'Harimau Malaya' is perhaps the fact that they've already faced Vietnam in the group stage. Since that meeting, Tan Cheng Hoe has made a few tactical shifts to the team. Mainly, bringing in goalkeeper Farizal Marlias, who is much better at sweeping behind the high defensive line. Farizal is key to cancelling out Vietnam's lightning-quick counter-attacks.

Weaknesses: Malaysia will surely have more possession, but the question is whether they can penetrate 'The Golden Dragons' deep defensive zone with Syamer Kutty Abba and Akram Mahinan, both of whom are more like "workhorse" midfielders than deft passers. The injury to central defender Aidil Zafuan against Thailand is also a huge concern for the 'Harimau Malaya'. His replacement, Irfan Zakaria, looked extremely unstable in defence, making countless rash challenges and scoring an own goal in Bangkok. If Zakaria doesn't step up his game, goal poacher Nguyen Anh Duc will definitely have a great night at the Bukit Jalil.

Player to Watch: Norshahrul Idlan - Space and chances will be hard to come by, so Malaysia's top scorer must be deadly and make it count against Vietnam.

Steven Danis (Football Tribe Indonesia)

Strengths: Playing in front of their supporters, which I know are fanatic as an Indonesian, Harima Malaya will have a morale boost. They just passed a big challenge from the defending champions, Thailand, and their confidence will be high. Previously, Sumareh and company already met with Vietnam on the Group Stage, and despite their 2-0 loss, I think they learned a lot and will come back stronger. The squad looks solid from their defence to their front-line.

Weaknesses: Having a goal-less tie game against Thailand may show the problem with scoring goals when playing in front of their supporters. They also need a Plan B if Vietnam defenders can limit Norshahrul's movement and all the passes from the second line does not reach him. The defence line must keep their concentration as they don't want to score own-goals again or concede a goal in just seven minutes like they did when they faced Laos in the group stage.

Player to Watch: Safawi Rasid. - Despite being only 21 years, Safawi has had many crucial experiences not only in AFF Cup but also in Asian qualifiers. There have been many excellent wingers to come out of Indonesia, and nice to see Malaysia, our lovely neighbor, have a good one prolific winger like him. May the future shine bright for him.

Gian Chansrichawla (Football Tribe SEA Editor)

Strengths: Energy will be the key for Malaysia during this game, and they seem to have plenty of it. For all the talk about tactics, sometimes it all comes down to which team is able to work harder. This young Malaysia side is eager to prove itself, and it looks better than Vietnam on a physical front.

Weaknesses: The side's ability in front of goal remains questionable. The number of chances missed in the first leg against Thailand suggest that the Tigers may struggle to reach their best level when confronted with such high stakes. They are unlikely to get many opportunities against such a pragmatic and well-disciplined side.

Player to Watch: Mohamadou Sumareh - With Vietnam likely to line up in a 3-4-3 formation, Malaysia could see their best chances to score coming from wider areas. The Gambian-born winger will need to use any opportunity he can to run at the opposition's defenders, creating space for the central strikers.

 

Read the thoughts of Football Tribe Malaysia’s Aiman Nazirmuddin here.