KUALA LUMPUR: National football squad chief coach Datuk K.Rajagobal is disappointed with the performance of national goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat who caused the squad’s 0-3 loss to Singapore at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, here, Sunday night.
He said the mistake committed by Khairul Fahmi, also known as Apek, during the first half caused the morale of the national team players to plummet but he praised the recovery shown in the second half.
“He (Khairul Fahmi) made a mistake which demoralised the players…frankly I did not expect us to lose. I expected us to lose 0-1 or draw with Singapore,” he told reporters after the match.
Singapore’s three goals were netted by team captain, Mohd Shahril Ishak in the 32nd and 37th minute and by naturalised player from Bosnia, Aleksandar Duric in the 75th minute. Rajagobal said the result made it difficult for them to find the points to get past the group stage.
“We have to go through a difficult path after this, and like it or not, we have to record wins in the other two matches,” he said.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s coach Radojko Avramovic said he was satisfied with his boys’ performance tonight, hoping the squad would continue the winning momentum in the next two matches, against Indonesia on Wednesday and Laos on Dec 1.
“It was a good start for us and I salute my boys for the good job done.
Sometimes, we are lucky to score and sometimes we aren’t so lucky…so we need to maintain the momentum and go forward for the remaining two matches. On the match between Laos and Indonesia, Avramovic said he was surprised with the performance of the Laotian side.
“Generally, Laos surprised me…I believe they came to win all the matches.
The energy shown by Laos in the match earlier was fantastic,” he said.
Malaysia are scheduled to face Laos this Wednesday before wrapping up with a match against Indonesia on Dec 1. Both matches will be held at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil. — Bernama