KUALA LUMPUR: Harimau Malaya midfielder Brendan Gan (pix) believes tomorrow will be the day they finally end the country’s 44-year drought of winning the Thailand King’s Cup by beating Tajikistan in the final.
Brendan has called on his teammates to ‘roar’ on the pitch by giving their 100 per cent at the 700th Anniversary of Chiang Mai Stadium to lift the cup.
“We know how badly the Malaysians want to win a cup. As footballers, we also want to win everything, it does not matter what type of game (it is), we want to win everything and get good results.
“I know it’s going to happen (winning the King’s Cup)...It’s not going to be an easy game against Tajikistan, but with the amount of work (we’re doing) on and off the field, hopefully, that will be implemented into the game tomorrow night,” he said during a pre-match press conference in Chiang Mai, today.
The Selangor FC player pointed out that the experience of playing in high-intensity tournaments such as the AFC Champions League and AFC Cup during club duty would certainly help the players to do their best in the final.
The 34-year-old Malaysian-Australian player said he believed all 25 players in the squad were up for the challenge.
“Everyone is hungry and wants to play and win, I think the chemistry is quite good in training, we have to be ready,” he added.
On Thursday (Sept 22), Malaysia - who previously won the cup in 1972, 1976 and 1977 - went through to the final by beating Thailand 5-3 on penalties after both teams were tied at 1-1 at full time.
Tajikistan defeated Trinidad & Tobago, 2-1, in the other match.
Malaysia last met Tajikistan in an international friendly in 2019, where the national squad won 1-0 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.-Bernama
