Great war between Thailand and Malaysia
At 8:00 p.m. on December 14, the Thai team will play at home in Rajamangala, against Malaysia. This is considered a “great battle” of Group A and will directly affect the top spot.
In terms of strength and performance, the Thai team is completely superior to Malaysia. Although they did not have the strongest squad in AFF Cup 2024, “War Elephants” showed their strength on the opening day with a record 10-0 victory over Timor Leste. That victory brought a lot of confidence to coach Masatada Ishii’s students, especially after witnessing how Timor Leste made things difficult for Malaysia in the second match.
Including the victory over Timor Leste, the Thai team has gone on a series of 5 consecutive unbeaten matches (3 wins, 2 draws). Notably, in these 5 matches, coach Masatada Ishii’s team scored 17 and conceded only 3 times. In addition to having the best physical strength because they do not have to play the second match, Thailand has 26 players when two stars from the J-League (Japan), Ekanit Panya and Suphachok Sarachat, join forces. These are considered quality “cannons”, helping coach Masatada Ishii’s attack become more fearsome.
On the opposite side, the Malaysian team has 4 points after 2 matches, leading Group A, but the playing style that coach Pau Martí and his team showed made the fans unhappy. Furthermore, in the match against Thailand, the Malaysian team is expected to be without up to 6 players from the two clubs Sabah and Selangor, including pillars such as Dominic Tan, Daniel Ting, Stuart Wilkin and Darren Lok… These players will return. return to the club to play matches in the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Cup and Malaysia Super League taking place this week, coinciding with the match schedule of the Malaysian team against the Thai team.
Coach Pau Marti Vicente expressed: “This is an extremely difficult situation for us. Players join and leave the team due to commitments at the club, causing chaos. Not to mention, we also have 3 In case of injury, it is unclear whether they will be able to recover in time to play or not.”
Although the Malaysian team faces many difficulties, Thai media assesses that coach Masatada Ishii and his team need to be careful. In the past, the “Malay Tiger” was a formidable opponent and many times caused Thailand’s hatred. Since 2019, the Thai and Malaysian teams have clashed directly 5 times. The Malaysian team is the more dominant team, winning 3 matches. Meanwhile, Thailand only found 1 win and 1 draw.
“I think the match against Malaysia will cause Thailand many difficulties. Although they don’t have the best squad, the Malaysian players are very quality. In addition, the coach of the Malaysian team also has good tactics,” said midfielder Jonathan Khemdee.
Waiting for Timor Leste to create a shock against Singapore
Before Thailand clashed with Malaysia, the encounter between Timor Leste and Singapore – taking place at 5:30 p.m. on December 14, 2024 also received a lot of attention.
Although they are rated lowest in Group A, the Timor Leste team brings a commendable spirit, causing Malaysia to face many difficulties in the second round. In the next match, the Timor Leste team will also play at Hanoi Stadium. Day (Hanoi), promises to become a big challenge for Singapore.
Joao Pedro – a player with 1 goal and 1 assist in the match against Malaysia, is determined: “The whole team tries to do their best against Singapore. We are improving with each match and hope to get good results. Against the upcoming opponent Singapore, if I have the ball, I will try 10 to 20 times harder than the previous match. I believe the players on the team all want to win 3 points. We will all run together and try to achieve the goal pepper”.
Asean Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2024 is shown live and completely on FPT Play, at: http://fptplay.vn