High chance of beating Singapore: Malaysia’s Sergio Aguero
For a second straight tournament, Causeway rivals Singapore and Malaysia will be meeting in their final Asean Championship group match at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium, with a spot in the semi-finals at stake.
With home advantage, the Tigers’ Argentina-born midfielder Sergio Aguero believes that they will prevail over the Lions once more, if they can reprise their showing from their last match, a 1-0 defeat by Thailand in Bangkok on Dec 14.
Aguero, who plays for Sri Pahang in the Malaysia Super League, was on the score sheet when the Tigers mauled the Lions 4-1 in January 2023 to reach the semi-finals of the last edition.
Ahead of the Dec 20 match, he told The Star: “It is a must-win game, for sure. Do I feel pressure? Not much, but I know Singapore are not an easy side to take on.
“When we enter the game, we have to enjoy and play the game right. If we replicate the game we played against Thailand on Saturday, we have a high chance of beating Singapore and hopefully get into the semi-finals.”
The Lions, who are second in Group A on six points after losing 4-2 to Thailand on Dec 17, need only a draw to reach the semi-finals for just the second time since their 2012 title, while Malaysia (four points) require a win to advance.
Malaysia must also hope that Cambodia, who are on four points as well, do not beat group winners Thailand (nine points) by a bigger margin. If both Malaysia and Cambodia win, it will come down to goal difference between the sides.
Aguero, who shares his name with the Manchester City legend, believes that home support will get Harimau Malaya over the line.
“The game is at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, so we have the home crowd advantage and we have to use it as our strength,” said the 30-year-old, who became a Malaysian citizen in 2022 after fulfilling Fifa’s five-year residency rule to play for an adopted country at senior level.
“I always tell my teammates this, every game in this competition is like a final. So we have to be at our very best to beat Singapore.”
Like many other teams, both Singapore and Malaysia are without some of their best players as the biennial competition, also known as the Mitsubishi Electric Cup, is not held during a Fifa window, with domestic leagues in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia going on concurrently.
Lions coach Tsutomu Ogura is without the Thailand-based Fandi brothers (Irfan, Ikhsan and Ilhan), utility player Jacob Mahler (injury) and Song Ui-young (personal issues), while Malaysia’s interim coach Pau Marti Vicente was unable to call up players from 10-time champions Johor Darul Takzim, such as Arif Aiman and Matthew Davies.
But, besides Aguero, there are still several naturalised or heritage players in his squad. They include England-born midfielder Stuart Wilkin, who notched a double in last year’s 4-1 win over the Lions; Scotland-born forward Fergus Tierney and two players of Brazilian origin – midfielder Endrick dos Santos and forward Paulo Josue.
Josue bagged a brace in their 3-2 home win over Timor-Leste on Dec 11, after Tierney set up Syafiq Ahmad to score the opener. While they lost to the Thais three days later, Aguero believes that has only served to fire them up.
“The defeat against Thailand did not demoralise us, instead, we are even more hungry to win,” he said.
Vicente, meanwhile, also believes that they have a good chance of beating the Lions.
“Of course, we cannot be happy with a defeat against Thailand, but we can still be proud of ourselves. If we play against Singapore like we played against Thailand, we are close to winning the game,” said Vicente, who will be succeeded by Australian Peter Cklamovski after the tournament.
Cklamovski, 46, was assistant to current Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou when the latter was coach of the Socceroos side who won the 2015 Asian Cup, and also when Postecoglou led Yokohama F. Marinos to the J1 League title in 2019.
On Dec 18, a stoppage-time goal from Doan Ngoc Tan gave Group B leaders Vietnam a 1-1 draw with the Philippines in Manila, while Myanmar beat Laos 3-2 in Yangon.
Myanmar have four points, three adrift of the Vietnamese, ahead of their Dec 21 meeting. The other contenders for a last-four spot, Indonesia and the Philippines, face off in the other match.
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