Malaysia coach: Treat Hong Kong with respect
(New Straits Times )
Updated: 2004-02-17 16:17

Every team deserve respect, Hong Kong should not be an exception.

This was national caretaker coach K. Rajagopal’s reminder to his players for their opening pre-World Cup match at Darulmakmur Stadium in Kuantan tomorrow.

While Malaysia may have the edge, Rajagopal knows too well that if his team take things for granted, they would be in trouble.

“We have gathered as much information as possible about Hong Kong. The last thing we want is the players thinking that Hong Kong are easy opponents.

“There’s no such thing as an easy game. We must give Hong Kong total respect and we need to produce the best if we want to collect full points.”

There are reasons aplenty for Malaysia to win tomorrow.

They must make amends for the 4-0 defeat by Japan in the international friendly in Tokyo two weeks ago.

Besides that, the team should also make full use of their homeground advantage.

On top of everything, Karl Weigang, the FAM technical director who is assisting Rajagopal, had said last week the team would deliver the three points.

The players reported at Wisma FAM on Sunday before leaving for Kuantan later in the evening.

Rajagopal said the players must think positive and forget the defeat by Japan.

“The players know what is at stake now. We must rise to the occasion and despite only training for two days, the senior players are experienced enough to handle such a high-pressure situation.

“The Japan clash was a good lesson to all and hopefully, the players will learn from their mistakes and not repeat them against Hong Kong.”

But the bad news for Rajagopal is that V. Saravanan, the Perak striker who had an excellent game against Pahang in their Super League opener last Saturday, Faizal Zainal and Nizaruddin Yusof, both Selangor MPPJ players, are down with injuries.

Rajagopal is keeping his fingers crossed that they will recover in time.

“By tomorrow evening (today), we will know whether they can take the field on Wednesday.”

Rajagopal is expected to name his final 20-man squad today. Currently, the former Kelantan and Selangor coach has 22 players with him.

The players also had a royal guest at their training session at the field adjacent to Darulmakmur Stadium yesterday when the Sultan of Pahang, who is also FA of Malaysia president, dropped by to offer words of encouragement.

Beside Hong Kong, who arrived in Kuantan yesterday evening, Malaysia also have Kuwait and China for company in the same group.

The training squad: Azmin Azram Aziz, Jamsari Sabian, Hamsani Ahmad, Chow Chee Weng, Faizal Zainal, Rusdi Talib, Syamsul Saad, Yuzaiman Zahari, Subri Sulong, Lim Chan Yew, Chan Wing Hoong, Eddy Helmi, Idris Karim, Liew Kit Kong, Khaironnisam Hussain, K. Nanthan Kumar, K. Sanbagamaran, Tengku Hazman Raja Hassan, Wong Sai Kong, V. Saravanan, Nizaruddin Yusof, Hairuddin Omar.