Goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi wants Olympic team to keep focus despite setback

Khairul Fahmi Che Mat played down his heroics in preventing Malaysia from suffering a humiliating defeat in Wednesday's Asian Olympic third round Group C qualifier against Japan.

The 2-0 loss was flattering to the Malaysian team and a rout was only avoided due to a string of world-class saves by the captain.

Khairul Fahmi, instead, chose to talk about the next two games in the hope the team will rebound from the defeat at the Tosu Stadium.

"We lost concentration in the key moments and that is something we will have to work on. We all take responsibility and have to learn from our mistakes.
 

"We need to be able to keep our focus for the full 90 minutes and I hope we will get a result in the next game," said Khairul Fahmi after the game.

None of Malaysia's four goals in the five games played so far has been scored by a striker and Izzaq Faris Ramlan, A. Thamil Arasu and Syahrul Izwari Ibrahim again failed to find the target on Wednesday.

Khairul Fahmi, however, believes it is only a matter of time before the strikers come good.

"Japan are a really good team and it was always going to be difficult to score against them. The strikers worked as hard as anyone and if they remain confident, the goals will come," said the Kelantan player.