Coach Peter Cklamovski: 'The goal is to defeat the Vietnamese national team'

Coach Peter Cklamovski confidently affirmed that with meticulous preparation, the Malaysian national team's objective is to beat the Vietnamese national team at Thiên Trường Stadium at 19:00 on March 31.

At the pre-match press conference held at 11:00 today, March 30, at the Mường Thanh Luxury Phủ Lý Hotel (Ninh Bình), Coach Peter Cklamovski stated: "We had a successful week-long training camp in Thailand and have received a warm welcome from the host country Vietnam here.

After what happened, we are very disappointed and regretful that we could not secure a spot for the 2027 Asian Cup. Now we are only focusing on what we can control, which is concentrating on the match against the Vietnamese national team with the goal of achieving the best result.

What has transpired recently was deserved, and the coaching staff has worked on the players' psychology. Currently, the entire team is stable both mentally and physically to compete.

For the Malaysian national team, the goal in any match is victory. For the past 12 years, Malaysia has never defeated the Vietnamese national team away, so now we are striving to accomplish this.

The coaching staff and players of Malaysia are focused and putting in maximum effort to achieve this outcome.

Vietnam is a good team. We respect our opponent and are focused on the match.

Endrick is a good player, and his experience somewhat helps the team, but first, we must concentrate on doing our own job well.

Tomorrow's match is very noteworthy between two strong teams, but with thorough preparation and the training camp in Thailand, Malaysia's goal is victory."

Defender Dion Cools shared: "As the head coach said, the match against the Vietnamese national team is very difficult, but we have prepared thoroughly and are ready to face the challenges.

With the national team, I always try my best to focus on doing my job well. This match is the same; I am also very fit and ready for this game.

The Malaysian national team has analyzed, dissected the strengths of the Vietnamese national team, and knows about skilled players like Văn Hậu, Đình Trọng, Hoàng Hên, Xuân Son…

Of course, I hope I have the chance to score like in the first-leg match, but first we need to focus on the team's overall performance."

Malaysia has not defeated the Vietnamese national team since the second leg of the 2014 AFF Cup semifinals (now ASEAN Cup), with a score of 4-2. Over the past 20 years, Malaysia has only won twice, while losing 13 times and drawing twice against the Vietnamese national team.

The Vietnamese national team holds the Southeast Asian record with a streak of 12 wins. Their most recent defeat was against Thailand, with a score of 1-2, in a friendly match in September 2024. After that, coach Kim Sang Sik and his team have been unbeaten for 16 matches, with 14 victories.