SEPANG (Bernama) – Malaysian naturalised winger Mohamadou Sumareh is confident that his teammates can turn the tide against Vietnam when both sides meet in the second leg of final of the 2018 AFF Suzuki Cup at the My Dinh Stadium in Hanoi on Saturday.
The 24-year-old Gambian who made his debut in a friendly match against Sri Lanka on Oct 12, said the players have come fighting all the way into the final and should do not waste their chance to lift the AFF Suzuki Cup for the second time after 2010, despite facing a tough away match against their spirited opponents.
For the record, Malaysia and Vietnam shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw in the first leg at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Dec 11.
“We have been together for almost two weeks before going into the final and we do a lot of sacrifices despite many footballers on holiday right now.
“We do not want let go this opportunity slip away and do not want to come in second place.We should create history and clinch the AFF Suzuki Cup for the second time,”he told reporters before departing to Hanoi with the national squad at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, here, today.
On another note, Sumareh urged his teammates to be wary of Vietnam’s counter attacks which could lead the latter scoring goals as what happened in the first final leg where Malaysia were left 0-2 before bouncing back to settle for the a 2-2 draw.
In this regard, he reminded the backline to give extra caution against Vietnam’s playmaker, Nguyen Quang Hai who is the architect of Vietnam’s attacks.
Meanwhile, seasoned defender Muhammad Syahmi said he is determined to put on a good show in Hanoi after having missed the first leg due to being red carded in the Bangkok clash.
Muhammad Syahmi, 20, contributed one of the two goals in that tie which saw Malaysia enter the final. That match ended in a 2-2 draw bu Malaysia entered the final on the away goals rule.
The first leg in Kuala Lumpur had ended in a goalless draw.
-BERNAMA
