Alkass Digital
There will be no margin for error for either side when Bahrain and Malaysia face off at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Saturday to revive their respective AFC Asian Cup Qatar™ 2023 campaigns.
Both suffered defeat in their opening matches and now victory is needed if they are to keep their hopes of advancing into the Round of 16 alive.
Bahrain are undefeated in their last eight encounters with Malaysia - including a 2-1 win during qualification for the AFC Asian Cup 2023 - but head coach Juan Antonio Pizzi said his team won’t be taking their opponents lightly.
“The game against Malaysia is going to be very challenging; it won't be easy. Both teams share the same ambition of qualifying into the knockout stage. To succeed, we must maintain 100 percent focus and strive to secure a victorye,” said Pizzi.
“For me it doesn't matter where we are playing, what we want is to focus and get the three points.”
Bahrain will be without the services of Amine Benaddi, the defender having to come off with an injury in the second half against Korea Republic, but Pizzi said his team will adapt.
“The injury to Amine (Benaddi) is crucial for the team, both in terms of skill and morale support. Finding a suitable replacement has been challenging, but as always, we have plans and ideas to implement on the pitch, and we have faith in our strategy.
“We know we need to improve our game from one match to another. However, it's crucial to emphasise that our level (against Korea Republic) was not weak at the centre of the attack."
Having conceded four goals against Jordan in their opening fixture, head coach Kim Pan-gon faces another challenge in steering Malaysia past Bahrain.
“We will approach tomorrow's game with the same mentality as our first match. We have to be brave and we want to control and dominate and hit the opponents early and make them struggle. If we do not do that, then it's not the Malaysian way,” said Kim.
“We had a review of the match against Jordan and we are helping the players by correcting some tactics and also spending some time to recover physically and mentally. We are fully recovered for this game.
“It was tough losing the first game. The whole team was disappointed with the result. Malaysia has a strong mentality and is very resilient and we believe the players will come back strong.”
Bahrain v Malaysia
Venue: Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium (Al Rayyan)
Kick-off: 17:30 (UTC+3)