Malaysian coach praises lovely Vietnamese fans

In order to calm public opinion and reduce tension before the second leg of the semi-final at My Dinh Stadium, Malaysia's head coach Dollah Salleh praised Vietnamese fans and right on the training ground, coach Dollah praised Vietnamese fans as very lovely.

Since arriving in Vietnam, Coach Dollah Salleh and his students have continuously shown their remorse for what they did to the Vietnamese national team (VNT) and especially the Vietnamese fans in the first leg.

The Malaysian players are also very worried about security issues in the upcoming second leg of the semi-final. The Malaysian team leader said that every day the players ask about how Vietnam’s security is being implemented, how the home fans will react, etc.

On the training ground, coach Dollah also praised the Vietnamese fans: "They are really lovely fans."

The head coach of the Malaysian team emphasized: “The incident that happened at Shah Alam Stadium is very sad. However, I am not worried about my players being attacked or anything. Because in my opinion, Vietnamese people are very hospitable and love peace, so they will not be aggressive towards us and Malaysian fans. As far as I know, Vietnamese fans are very lovely."

Along with coach Dollah, Malaysia team captain Safiq Rahim apologized to Vietnam team center back Dinh Tien Thanh after the foul in the first leg match. Safiq Rahim said that 50-50 disputes are common in football but he still felt guilty and had to apologize to his colleague in the Vietnam team.

“I know it was a bad action and I hope Vietnamese fans do not blame me too much. I also want to apologize to Tien Thanh and the Vietnamese players for the above action,” Safiq Rahim said.

On the evening of December 9, the Malaysian team had their second training session at My Dinh Stadium in the rather cold weather of Hanoi. Having to move from a hot area to a cold area, the Malaysian players had a hard time adapting. The Malaysian team's training session lasted more than an hour, but unlike the morning, reporters were only allowed to approach the players for the first 15 minutes. It is expected that the Malaysian team will have two more training sessions before the second leg of the semi-final against the Vietnamese team on December 11.

Regarding the incident of Malaysian fans attacking Vietnamese spectators, Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) General Secretary Mohd Amin Amidin confirmed that the police have arrested 6 suspects involved in the recent brawl in Shah Alam and will expand the investigation into the incident. Specifically, 12 other attackers of Vietnamese fans are also wanted. The fans who attacked were identified as being from the Inter Johor Firms (IJF), a football fan association in Johor state.

It is expected that about 1,500 Malaysian fans can register to go to My Dinh to cheer for coach Dollah Salleh and his team, so FAM has sent a dispatch asking VFF to ensure maximum safety for Malaysian fans.

According to TTVH