Stand firm and regain pride, coach tells Malaysians

Kulalumpur, July 17: Reeling after two heavy defeats, Malaysian coach Norizan Bakar is calling on his players to rise above all the chaos and criticism and claw back some pride against Iran in their final Asian Cup Group C tomorrow.

Hammered 5-1 by China in their opening game last week, the co-hosts were humiliated 5-0 by Uzbekistan on Saturday.

Those one-sided results plunged Malaysian soccer into turmoil, with the Football Association of Malaysia's deputy president resigning on Sunday and sports leaders calling for others to follow suit.

Norizan, who has shouldered much of the blame, remains defiant, however.

''I'm only thinking about the match against Iran,'' he told journalists today. ''With all the criticism and humiliation, not even the best psychologist can help the team.

''I just told the players to face it and maybe it will make us stronger. We have to be realistic against Iran and hope we don't concede too many goals.'' Malaysia have already been eliminated from the Asian Cup. Iran beat Uzbekistan 2-1 in their opener and then drew 2-2 with China.

Victory would ensure them a place in the quarter-finals.

Reuters






>