Malaysian players are suddenly scared when facing the Vietnamese team, why?

Malaysian players are mentally affected when meeting the Vietnamese team

There is information that the Malaysian team will naturalize 7 more foreign players of Malaysian origin, to prepare for the crucial confrontation with the Vietnamese team next June.

However, according to expert Zulakbal Abdul Karim, who has a professional coaching license from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Harimau Malaya actually needs to be better prepared to have hope, instead of relying on naturalized players. In which, the psychological factor is extremely important.

Malaysian expert assesses Vietnam team as very solid and stable

Photo: Ngoc Linh

"The way the Malaysian team prepared, like they did against Nepal (won 2-0) recently, cannot expect to beat the Vietnamese team.

New coach Peter Cklamovski had little time to get his players on the same page and create the expected game. It was clear that Malaysia’s victory over Nepal was largely due to their opponents’ own mistakes rather than tactical mastery. Nepal is also very low in the FIFA rankings (175th in the world ), while Malaysia is ranked 132nd.

With the Vietnamese team on their way back to the world's top 100, they also won a very easy victory over Laos (5-0) without much effort. Showing the stability and steadfastness of the number 1 opponent competing in Group F with the Malaysian team," Mr. Zulakbal Abdul Karim expressed in the New Straits Times newspaper.

In Group F of the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers, Vietnam and Malaysia will compete for a single spot in the finals in Saudi Arabia (taking place from January 7 to February 5, 2027). The first meeting between the two teams will take place on June 10 at Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, and will be a crucial factor in the race for the top spot in Group F.

"To defeat the Vietnamese team, coach Peter Cklamovski's coaching staff will need to start preparing early from now. We cannot prepare briefly like we did with the meeting with the Nepal team. We need to make maximum efforts to prepare for the meeting with the Vietnamese team," Zulakbal Abdul Karim emphasized.

Coach Kim Sang-sik is bringing stability to the Vietnam team.

Photo: Ngoc Linh

According to the New Straits Times , another very important factor is the head-to-head record that shows the difficulty of the Malaysian team against Vietnam, with 7 losses and 1 draw in the last 8 encounters since 2016. The most recent victory of the Malaysian team against Vietnam was in December 2014.

"The Malaysian team needs to carefully analyze the Vietnamese team and also needs to prepare mentally. It has been a long time since the Malaysian team has been able to beat the Vietnamese team. The players almost have a losing mentality every time they meet this fateful opponent.

This is a problem that needs to be solved. We have to invite psychologists to help the players deal with this. The team is currently well supported technically. Therefore, it is necessary to use experts to overcome this problem," said Mr. Zulakbal Abdul Karim.

"Another thing that can help the Malaysian team is to simulate matches. The 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 to those situations," concluded Mr. Zulakbal Abdul Karim.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cau-thu-malaysia-bat-ngo-lo-so-khi-gap-doi-tuyen-viet-nam-ly-do-vi-sao-185250329100151534.htm