AFF Cup 2021: Identifying the Malaysian Team

Many people consider the Malaysian team to be a tough opponent in the group stage. The Malaysian team is also the opponent ofVietnam National Teamin the final of the AFF Cup 2018. In fact, the "Malay Tiger" only lost after 90 minutes at My Dinh with a score of 0-1 after holding Coach Park's team to a 2-2 draw in the first leg at home. In the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, our team also won both matches against the Malaysian team in the process of rejuvenation.

"Malay Tiger" lost half of its squad

Malaysia is also the opponent of Vietnam in the final match of AFF Cup 2018. Photo: AFC

Compared to the AFF Cup 2018, this time coach Park Hang-seo lost 6 players from the official squad including: Goalkeeper Van Lam, defender Van Hau, midfielder Hung Dung, Trong Hoang, Huy Hung and striker Van Quyet, coach Tan Cheng-Hoe also eliminated 5 names.

The biggest surprise was that Mr. Tan dropped captain goalkeeper Farizal Marlias (Johor Darul Takzim Club). After the 1-2 loss to the Vietnamese team in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, the 35-year-old goalkeeper was no longer part of Mr. Tan's plan to rejuvenate the squad. In the recent match against Thailand, Mr. Tan chose 32-year-old goalkeeper Mohd Khalid.

In addition to captain Farizal, four other players, including right-back Matthew Davies, central midfielder Nazmi Faiz Mansor, winger Arif Aiman ​​Hanapi and left-back La'Vere Ong Corbin, will also be absent from the upcoming AFF Cup. These are players who regularly play when coach Tan Cheng-Hoe uses a 4-1-4-1 formation. This is quite surprising because the Australian right-back has played for the national team for 5 years with 23 appearances, showing a good physical foundation and the ability to climb the sidelines, which used to trouble Vietnam's Van Hau.

The naturalized English player La'Vere Ong Corbin plays on the left wing. This 30-year-old defender still has a relatively good physical foundation, is not afraid of collisions and has had arrow-like runs down the flank. Is it because he lacks accurate crosses that he has been dropped?

Playing as an anchor midfielder in a 4-1-4-1 formation, with a height of 1.66m, is a disadvantage for central midfielder Nazmi Faiz Mansor, number 12. Mr. Tan has Ahmad playing well, so he "ignored" this player. For a long time, 19-year-old Arif Aiman ​​Hanapi has been a backup option for naturalized player Sumareh, number 13. In fact, even Sumareh, his recent form has been erratic, his scoring efficiency in the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup is quite low. Thus, the absence of this young midfielder in Singapore is simply due to his poor form. In the future, it is very possible that Vietnamese audiences will see number 18 return to the "Malay Tiger" team.

3 naturalized players left

Vietnam and Malaysia, two candidates for the top spot in Group B. Photo: DV

For whatever reason, the current AFF Cup runner-up will certainly face many difficulties when losing 2 full-backs and the team's best "goalkeeper" at the moment. But this is certainly still a tough opponent for coach Park Hang-seo and his team because Mr. Tan's youth policy in the past 2 years has helped the Malaysian players have many fresh features in their playing style. In their squad, there are still quite a few naturalized players such as Guiherme de Paula, Sumareh and Krasiniqi who understand our playing style very well.