Coach Kim Pan Gon said he was very happy and proud of his players after the Malaysian team had a "victory-like" draw with South Korea in the final round of Group E of the 2023 Asian Cup.
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| The Malaysian team had a valuable draw against South Korea in the group stage of the 2023 Asian Cup. (Source: Yonhap) |
Despite facing a very strong Korean team and being behind, the Malaysian team still played persistently, continuously chasing the score and achieving a 3-3 draw after a goal in the final minutes of injury time. Although still eliminated from the tournament, coach Kim Pan Gon's team can return home with their heads held high.
Coach Kim Pan Gon said he had a hard time motivating his players for the match because Malaysia had been eliminated. However, the whole team entered the match against Korea with the highest spirit.
"For us, this is a great result, a great match and I thank all the players. It is really difficult to motivate the players because Malaysia has no chance to enter the round of 16 of the 2023 Asian Cup.
I tried to tell the players that we are facing the best team in Asia, the former top scorer in the Premier League, the best defender in Germany. It is a big challenge."
Coach Kim Pan Gon shared: "I am very proud of my players. The Malaysian team had difficulties in the first half but came back in the second half. The equalizer at the end of the match was a great result for us.
Korea is the top team in the continent. You can see it clearly from the statistics after the match. We will learn a lot from matches like this," Mr. Kim Pan Gon said proudly.
Commenting on the Korean team, the "captain" of the Malaysian team said: "We found some weaknesses of Korea but with our limited level, it was very difficult to exploit them. This match cannot be compared to the previous two matches in the group stage.
I have full respect for the Korean team. They also had a hard time against a tight Malaysian team. I hope Korea can go far in the 2023 Asian Cup."
On the Korean team's side, coach Jurgen Klinsmann affirmed that the Korean team's goal is to win, even win beautifully against Malaysia, but nothing can be predicted in football.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann said: "I affirm that there is no way the Korean team will avoid Japan in the round of 16. Our goal is to beat Malaysia to top the group, thereby creating momentum for the next matches.
As you can see, this was a tough match. Both teams played with dedication until the last minute. But it is clear that this is a disappointing result. We will have a serious discussion to learn from our experience in defending against quick counter-attacks."
( according to Dan Tri )
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