Malaysian midfielder Safiq Rahim believes that fitness played a part in their frustrating defeat to Thailand in the finals of the AFF Suzuki Cup last week.
Dollah Salleh’s men suffered a 2-0 defeat in the first leg of the final, before eventually winning the second leg 3-2. But the War Elephants claimed the Suzuki Cup crown on a 4-3 aggregate victory.
That being said, Malaysia conceded all four goals across both legs, in the final 20 minutes of the game. While Safiq thinks that it was a clear indication of how fitness was a key issue, the quality within the team is indubitable.
“We only had limited time together but yet we made the final. If we had more time things would have been better. We must learn from the mistakes here and work on them for future assignments,” Safiq told the New Straits Times.
“Fitness is the key issue here. However, if we had no quality, we wouldn’t have reached the final,” he claimed.
Despite Malaysia’s defeat in the final of the competition, Safiq Rahim provided a certain degree of consolation by claiming the Suzuki Cup top scorer award, netting six goals throughout the competition.
Other posts by FO Newsdesk
