Malaysia coach: 'We have a plan to confront Vietnam'

After defeating Myanmar 1-0 in the opening match, Malaysia defeated Laos 5-0 yesterday to rise to the top of Group B. The next match on December 27, Coach Kim's army will be the guest of Vietnam - The team won 6-0 on the field of Laos in the opening match and rested in the second leg this week.

When asked about the match that is considered the final of Group B, which has a high probability of deciding the ticket to the semi-finals, coach Kim replied briefly: "We have a plan to face them."

Kim, 53 years old, used to be the Technical Director of the Korean Football Federation. He accepted to lead the Malaysian team in January 2022 with the first task of winning the AFF Cup, the tournament in which the team of the yellow and black jerseys won the last time 12 years ago.

In the upcoming trip to My Dinh, Coach Kim will face his compatriot Park Hang-seo. Under the guidance of Coach Park, Vietnam has never lost to Malaysia at all levels, even winning all of the SEA Games, AFF Cup and World Cup 2022 qualifiers.

Regarding the match against Laos, coach Kim commented: "Malaysia had difficulty in the first half when Laos played defensively, not giving us much space to finish. Halfway between the two halves, I encouraged the players. let's play braver and go fuller. score more goals than that."

Malaysia is at a slight disadvantage in the third series when they have to play away and take fewer days off. Kim also lost key defender Ahmad Khuzaimi to injury in the opening match, and was not allowed to call another player to replace him. In the Laos match, the Korean leader experimented and brought midfielder Brenda Gan to play at the center back.

The Malaysian team will arrive in Hanoi today, December 25.