What Malaysia Says about Winning The AFF Suzuki Cup 2010

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Malaysian football squad, dubbed as "Harimau Malaya", eventually lifted the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 after beating Indonesia on a 4-2 aggregate, although in the preliminary group match the Malaysians lost 1-5 to the host team which were the favourite to emerge as the champion.

"We came here with a three-goal cushion from the win in Bukit Jalil, that gave us the confidence and optimism here," said Malaysian fotball coach, K. Rajagobal after the match here on Wednesday night.

Malaysia rebounded from the early defeat in the Group A elimination round, which Rajagobal described was due to the individual mistakes of his players.

The ever-smiling coach said he was always confident that the young team under his guidance could lift the championship this time after defeating defending champion Vietnam 2-0 in the first-leg semifinal.

He praised his players, especially the young defenders who were capable of giving their maximum performance to repel the attacks by the Indonesian players, who, by his assessment, were playing well.

Rajagobal was also proud of the goal which he described as "sophisticated" from Safee who weakened the mental strength of the Indonesian players and, on the other hand, lifted the confidence of the Malaysian team.

"I praise the players. They certainly deserve to be the AFF Suzuki Cup champion," he said.

On the game strategy, the coach said he could read the style of play adopted by the Indonesian team who had to win 4-0 to grab the trophy.