Interim Harimau Malaya (national football squad) coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee is eyeing a win over Laos in a class A international friendly at the Thai Army Stadium, Bangkok in Thailand Thursday.
He said a win will not only end a streak of defeats suffered by Harimau Malaya this year, but it will boost the morale and confidence of the players before facing Timor Leste in the fifth Group A match of the 2018 World Cup/2019 Asian Cup qualifying round at the Dili Municipality Stadium on Oct 13.
“I hope it will not rain tomorrow for us to get a real check on the squad’s strength and weaknesss before meeting Timor Leste,” he told reporters via Whatsapp, today.
At the same time, Kim Swee did not rule out the possibility of fielding the full quota of six reserve players allowed in the friendly match to find the best combination of players in all positions before meeting Timor Leste.
In this regard, Kim Swee, who is also the national under-23 squad chief coach, wants Harimau Malaya players to take Laos seriously even though the Laotians had suffered three consecutive losses in their Group G qualifying round.
Laos lost 0-2 to Lebanon and Kuwait on homeground apart from an 0-8 drubbing by South Korea in an away match.
“We cannot take it easy (against Laos). The most important thing is our style of play, what we should do and to execute with discipline,” said Kim Swee. – BERNAMA
