Just A Few Things: Malaysia Vs. Myanmar

Credit- Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)

Nikmatilah Penyokong Malaysia!

Myanmar head coach, Antoine Hey provided a narrative that he wished he would take back. He made the mistake of ruffling our feathers by saying that they are not afraid of the Malaysia fans and that it will always be the 11v11 on the pitch that will decide the result as the fans will not factor it either way. How brutally wrong he was in the end. Because of that statement, it lead to the stadium being packed with 83,777 fans to cheer on the Harimau Malaya with raucous support that also resulted in the attendance record broken in the AFF Suzuki Cup history.

The fans, that included the ever-present Ultras Malaya, kept chanting and clapping throughout the whole match that added more motivation to an already brilliant display by the team. Myanmar tried their best to make use of their own possession, but seemingly could not get things right despite having their own set of supportersw cheering them on. The performance lead to Hey making an awkward admission after the match that his players could not get used to the atmosphere set alight by us. Lesson learned: do not rile us up.

Flayed By The Right Flank

The poor Myanmar left flank did not know what hit them. Nanda Kyaw and Soe Moe Kyaw, the defenders assigned on the left, for the life of them could not contain Syahmi Safari and Mohamadou Sumareh. They could not keep up with their runs and passing. Most of the take-ons by Sumareh and Syahmi were successful where a lot of our attacks came from. After all, it was where our first two goals came from where Nanda Kyaw was turned inside out that lead to Sumareh unfortunately hitting the cross bar with a stunning bicycle kick, but Norshahrul Idlan Talaha tapped in the rebound easily.

A counter-attack also utilized the right flank where Soe Moe Kyaw bundled Safawi Rasid inside the box with Zaquan Adha’s penalty just barely got past the Myanmar keeper, Kyaw Zin Htet. Kyaw Soe Moe’s horrible night was compounded minutes before full-time where his attempted clearance ricochet off Zaquan that went into the net. The third goal could’ve came much earlier on 66 minutes had Sumareh taken his chance properly that was crucially dealt with by Zin Htet. The combination of Syahmi and Sumareh left everyone licking their lips. They want to see more of this passage of play between these two players.

Defence Rocks

Heck, even the defence showed brilliant composure when facing adversity. Shahrul Saad & Aidil Zafuan made sure they weren’t to be bullied by Aung Thu and co. Shahrul really went in to prevent the Myanmar attackers from getting closer to their goal, making those crucial tackles and interceptions. He basically was almost all over his own side to prevent anyone from getting in. He kept things simple clearing any danger,

Aidil Zafuan on the other hand was the man-of-the-match. He showed brilliant composure by standing his ground to cause problems to Myanmar’s attackers and was so calm in providing the ball from the back to get the attacks going. Although, there was one nervy moment when a free Hlaing Bo Bo received a cutback, but Farizal Marlias’ brilliantly saved the low shot with his outstretched right leg. Our defence have been the subject of jokes and criticism, but on this night, they performed very well.

Midfield Destroyers

Now do you believe in the midfield pairing Tan Cheng Hoe put out? Akram Mahinan & Syamer Kutty Abba as usual, was provided the task to disrupt any attempted play by our opponents and they excelled in their job. Either one or both them would close down the ball holder to help out the defence and they did so at least nine times out of ten. They successfully frustrated Myanmar and Aung Thu was left without support almost the entire match. Syamer & Akram continue to be important pieces to Cheng Hoe’s plan with Kenny Pallraj a reliable back-up if either of them could not play.