Malaysian national team boss Datuk Ong Kim Swee believes that Saudi Arabia is significantly superior to his side and that it will be difficult to contain the home side when they meet at the King Abdullah Stadium tonight.
While Malaysia were only narrowly defeated by Saudi when they last met in September 2015, Bert van Marwijk’s side went on beat Timor Leste 10-0 in November. They’re also ranked 60th in the world right now, compared to Malaysia’s ranking of 166.
“I don’t think I need to say much about our opponents anymore. In terms of strength, they have good balance, and all their players are strong. So we’ll have to work hard, especially since we’ll be playing in front of the hosts’ fans,” he told a press conference held in Jeddah.
“Saudi has not lost a match in the qualifiers and that undoubtedly makes tomorrow’s clash a tough one. I hope the players will be able to perform at their best. But we’ve got to also be realistic,” he added.
But while he did thoroughly admit the gulf in class between Saudi in Malaysia, Kim Swee was quick to also stress that his players have a strong chance of attaining a favourable result, provided they work hard and stick to the gameplan.
“We are not worried though. I’ll just have to make sure that my players give their best. We all know Saudi is a strong side and that’s a fact. But I have faith in my players and I think we can reproduce the performance we showed last September,” he added.
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