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AFF Championship: Salvos fired ahead of Causeway Derby

BUKIT JALIL – The match takes place on Tuesday night, but the mind games between arch-rivals Malaysia and Singapore were well and truly under way on Monday.

At the pre-match press conference ahead of their crucial AFF Championship Group B match, the claws were bared soon after both coaches had extended the customary New Year greetings.

When Malaysia coach Kim Pan-gon was asked if he felt Takayuki Nishigaya’s Singapore are a different side to interim coach Nazri Nasir’s Lions who beat his team 2-1 in March, he said “no”, adding: “They are quite negative-playing, reactive-playing, they care more about defending and counter-attacks.

“This is not about team levels, but the style of approach to win is different. We want to be proactive, we want to dominate games, we want to be energetic, dynamic to achieve winning, so we are different. Singapore have their own style, which we fully respect and will approach properly.”

Philosophy and approach were the hot-button topics of the day as Singapore need only a point to go through to the semi-finals, while Malaysia need to win to advance at the Lions’ expense.

Perhaps, Kim, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the villain Jang Deok-su in Netflix’s hit series Squid Game, was trying his best at mind games to ensure his team’s survival in the tournament, for he doubled down on his assessment of the Lions later.

Referring to Vietnam’s 3-0 win over his team and 0-0 draw with Singapore, the 53-year-old said: “We could drop down, be negative, step back and look for their mistake to score a goal. Maybe we can have a higher percentage to draw (against Vietnam), but never we will improve.

“We may get one point but... if we are looking at the big picture, we have to approach properly, confidently and bravely like what we did before against other teams.

“Against Vietnam we did the same quite successfully, but we paid (the price) as well, so the situation is difficult. But the players did a great job, so I encourage them to keep it up. Even though we lost, the citizens will support us if we show them our passion and emotion. Don’t be afraid, just move forward.

“After the Vietnam game, I am more confident in our players now, expecting we will have a good game to deliver to the citizens tomorrow.”

Not to be outdone, Nishigaya also attempted to heap pressure on Malaysia by noting that the hosts had one week’s recovery after their last game against Vietnam, while Singapore had only four days and had to travel up north. He added that they will also have the home crowd behind them at the 87,000-capacity stadium.

The 49-year-old Japanese disagreed that his team play negatively, and said: “We have kept two clean sheets because our players are understanding the concepts better and are improving every day. This is a huge tournament for us, and our players’ commitment, motivation and concentration levels are very high.

“Of course, we have to play according to situations in every match, but our style of play doesn’t change: As much as possible, we like to attack the opponents’ goal.”

Interestingly, Malaysia fielded attacker Faisal Halim at the press conference while Singapore brought defender M. Anumanthan.

But the Singaporean, a doppelganger of Canadian rapper Drake, coolly asserted: “We are going out there to get the three points, and we have a goal in mind, which is to qualify.

“Singapore versus Malaysia was always a match we enjoy watching growing up, and look forward to as players as well. We enjoy playing in front of a large crowd, and we are relaxed and ready.”

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