Safiq Rahim apologizes to defender Tien Thanh

Although he said he did not intend to hit Tien Thanh in the second half of the first leg of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 semi-final at Shah Alam Stadium on the night of December 7, Malaysian captain midfielder Safiq Rahim sent an apology to the Vietnamese national team's central defender.

Midfielder Safiq interviewed by Malaysian media. Photo: NK

With such unsportsmanlike behavior, Safiq should have received a red card. However, referee Ma Ning (China) only showed the player a yellow card as a warning. Recalling this situation, Safiq said: “That case is 50-50. I want to apologize to Tien Thanh.”

After arriving in Hanoi at noon on December 8, the Malaysian team had two training sessions on December 9, while the Vietnamese team only had one training session in the morning. Explaining this, the head of the delegation, Datuk Sudarsono, said: “After arriving in Hanoi, we only had two days to prepare for the match with the Vietnamese team. Therefore, we must make full use of this time to practice and improve our weaknesses from the first leg.”

Speaking more about the return match against the Vietnamese team on December 11 at My Dinh Stadium, midfielder Safiq Rahim said: “Vietnam has the advantage of goals in Malaysia, so we have to win by two goals here to be able to reach the final. Therefore, we will try with all our strength.”

Meanwhile, despite having a big advantage to win a ticket to the final of the AFF Suzuki Cup 2014 after a 2-1 victory on Malaysia's field, the Vietnamese team still did not show any complacency. Assigned to answer the press after the training session on the morning of December 9, striker Mac Hong Quan warned that Malaysia would be much stronger in the second leg. He said: "In the second leg of the semi-final, the opponent Malaysia will have the return of two key players after suspension. Therefore, they will be much stronger and we must be especially cautious. Malaysian players are fast, so we need to try to limit situations of speed racing with them. But certainly, we will "burn" ourselves like what we showed at Shah Alam Stadium".

According to Tuoi Tre