KUALA LUMPUR: Harimau Malaya winger Mohamad Faisal Abdul Halim feels that the 4-3 victory over Kyrgyzstan in the Group D opening match of the 2026 World Cup/2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers on Thursday night is not enough to guarantee them further progress in the competition.
Mohamad Faisal, popularly known as Mickey, said Kim Pan Gon’s squad should not get carried away by the win and should stay focused to bring back three points from their next match against Taiwan in Taipei on Tuesday.
“Although we won (tonight), I do not want our team to draw or lose against Taiwan. If that is the outcome, our win tonight will become meaningless. We must remain consistent and improve further to go far,” he said after the match. In last night’s match in Bukit Jalil, Malaysia took the lead through Dion Cools but trailed 1-3 after Kairat Zhyrgalbek, Ernst Batyrkanov and Kai Merk scored for The White Falcons.
However, the national squad fought back in style in the second half, scoring three goals through an own goal by Kyrgyzstan’s Khristiian Brauzman, and Cools and Mohamad Faisal’s efforts.
Despite scoring Malaysia’s winning goal, Mohamad Faisal said credit should go to the whole team for their hard work team. “As you could see, we fought back. It was difficult to score three goals but we fought till the last minute and it paid off. “The important thing is that the team and fans are happy with this result. We are also proud of delivering a victory for Malaysians,” he added. – BERNAMA
