Zainal, Dollah back Malaysia to win

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KUALA LUMPUR - They know exactly what it is like. They have been inside dressing rooms, walked out to overflowing stadiums with the atmosphere reaching fever pitch, savoured sweet victory and swallowed that bitter pill of defeat.

They know what a match against Singapore means.

And tonight, Malaysian football legends Zainal Abidin Hassan and Dollah Salleh will watch from the Bukit Jalil stands, joining the entire nation to will K Rajagobal's Tigers to win against Singapore.

And the duo, twin terrors in Malaysia's strike-force of yore, believe this Malaysia team will overcome the 5-3 first leg defeat to dump Singapore out in the second round of the FIFA World Cup qualifier.

"The whole nation is confident. 85,000 tickets sold out quickly, that's how much trust everybody has that this team can win. This team has everything, especially that fighting spirit," Zainal told Today.

It was exactly that spirit that saw Malaysia claw their way back from a 4-1 half-time deficit in Singapore to keep the tie alive, but it is their leaky defence, which has conceded 19 goals in their last five games, that is the worry.

"Everybody is talking about our defence … conceding soft goals, and that's a worry for the nation, but I know they can overcome that," he added.

Central defender Aidil Zafuan is fit again and is in line to replace Muslim Ahmad and add experience to a team that will be without the suspended skipper Safiq Rahim.

"This is a bunch of good players but most are aged below 25 and don't have much experience - that's where mental toughness comes in, especially in a game like this," said Dollah, who called for Amirulhadi Zainal to start at right-midfield to provide important penetration down the wings, along with the dangerous S Kunalan.

"The whole country is looking forward to this game, and with the crowd support it will be 12 versus 11.

"As a player, games against Singapore always gave me extra motivation, and Zainal always swore to score, and he almost always did," said Dollah. Malaysia will kill Singapore in the second half." Shamir Osman



MediaCorp TV's Channel 5 will be showing the second leg of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier between Malaysia and Singapore live at 8.40pm.