Malaysia have a mountain to climb after losing the first leg 3-5 at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Saturday but Safiq, who will serve a two-match suspension after being sent off in the first leg, is confident his team-mates would overturn the two-goal advantage.
“There is no need to press the panic button. We are still very much alive and we showed that Singapore can be rattled if we raise our game the way we played in the second-half,” said a spirited Safiq yesterday.
At the Jalan Besar Stadium, Malaysia trailed 1-4 in the first-half. And five minutes into the second half, Safiq incurred the wrath of the referee for a rash challenge on Singapore’s Harris Harun. Despite the setback, Malaysia fought back from three goals down to narrow the score to 3-4 before losing 3-5.
“It is not fair to rule out the team, yet. Imagine we were soundly beaten by Indonesia 1-5 in the opening game at the Suzuki Cup in Indonesia last year. Who would have believed we can come back to win the title?,” said Safiq, who lifted the Cup after they defeated Indonesia 4-2 on aggregate in the final.
Safiq said he is counting on the Malaysian fans to come in huge numbers to lend vocal support.
“Let’s give them a shock wave like they have never seen before. They have not played in front of a huge crowd since 2007 when they last beat us in the semi-finals of the AFF championships on penalty kicks 4-5 (2-2 on aggregate),” said Safiq.
“There is no need to press the panic button. We are still very much alive and we showed that Singapore can be rattled if we raise our game the way we played in the second-half,” said a spirited Safiq yesterday.
At the Jalan Besar Stadium, Malaysia trailed 1-4 in the first-half. And five minutes into the second half, Safiq incurred the wrath of the referee for a rash challenge on Singapore’s Harris Harun. Despite the setback, Malaysia fought back from three goals down to narrow the score to 3-4 before losing 3-5.
“It is not fair to rule out the team, yet. Imagine we were soundly beaten by Indonesia 1-5 in the opening game at the Suzuki Cup in Indonesia last year. Who would have believed we can come back to win the title?,” said Safiq, who lifted the Cup after they defeated Indonesia 4-2 on aggregate in the final.
Safiq said he is counting on the Malaysian fans to come in huge numbers to lend vocal support.
“Let’s give them a shock wave like they have never seen before. They have not played in front of a huge crowd since 2007 when they last beat us in the semi-finals of the AFF championships on penalty kicks 4-5 (2-2 on aggregate),” said Safiq.
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