This is the view of Malaysian football critic - Dr. Zulakbal Abdul Karim, who also holds a professional coaching certificate from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC).
He said that Harimau Malaya (the nickname of the Malaysian team) needs to prepare more to face the Vietnamese team in the group stage match of the 2027 F Asian Cup in Kuala Lumpur on June 10.
In the opening match, Malaysia - currently ranked 132nd in the world - beat Nepal (175th) with a score of 2-0. Meanwhile, the Vietnam team (ranked 114th in the world) easily defeated the Laos team (ranked 186) with a score of 5-0.
The victory over Nepal is the expected result for Malaysia, but the match against Vietnam will be a test for the ability of new national team coach Peter Cklamovski.
Zulakbal said that while Cklamovski did well when achieving a good result against Nepal, the Vietnamese team will be a more difficult challenge for Malaysia.
"Cklamovski only had a short time to prepare for the match against Nepal and the new squad did well to win. The victory over Nepal will give the whole team more confidence, but everyone needs to quickly prepare for the next match against the Vietnam team.
In my opinion, Malaysia or Vietnam will lead Group F to qualify for the 2027 Asian Cup. Therefore, the match between them will be decisive. We know that the Vietnamese team is in good form and is a strong candidate for the top spot.
To defeat the Vietnamese team, the coaching staff needs to start preparing early, the Malaysian team cannot prepare like it did with Nepal. The whole team needs to make every effort to prepare for the match against the Vietnam team, Mr. Zulakbal Abdul Karim told the New Straits Times.
The Malaysian team has not had a good head-to-head record against the Vietnamese team, as they lost 7 and drew 1 in the last 8 meetings since 2016. Harimau Malaya's most recent victory over the Vietnamese team was in December 2014.
Zulakbal said that the Malaysian team needs to analyze the Vietnamese team and also need to be mentally prepared. He added that Harimau Malaya should play a simulation match before facing Kim Sang-sik and his team
"It's been a long time since Malaysia beat Vietnam, some players may be psychologically affected by this, and this is an issue that needs to be addressed. The national team currently has great technical support, so it is necessary to use experts to overcome this problem.
Another thing that can help the team is the simulation matches, the national team needs to play against an opponent similar to the Vietnamese team. The players need to be exposed to what the Vietnamese team can do and they need to find solutions for those situations," Zulakbal said.
