Unsatisfied Farizal demands more improvement from Malaysia

As the captain of the national team, his job is keep his team mates in check and grounded. Despite a good performance against a Jordan side that sits in 99th place in the FIFA rankings, Farizal Marlias is ensuring that his colleagues doesn't get too comfortable with just 90 minutes of football.

A big qualifying campaign kicks off next week against Indonesia and subsequently United Arab Emirates where a place in the 2022 World Cup and 2023 Asian Cup is up for grabs. With a raucous atmosphere expected at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, Farizal knows his team face a fight on their hands.

"So far I think the players have given their all and we tried to put into work the instructions from coach Tan Cheng Hoe in tonight's (Friday) game. Maybe at the start of the match, we lacked concentration but after that we can see that the team came back strongly. So far so good but we have to keep improving for the next game.

"Everyone wants to win, especially when we play at home. (But the game is helpful because) We play UAE where their pattern of play or level is around the same of Jordan. We have to learn from our mistakes so that it won't be repeated. Hopefully in the next game we can increase our game tempo, intensity and put away the chances that we created. I hope the players won't lose hope and continue to fight," said Farizal in the mixed zone. 

Farizal was unable to keep a clean sheet in the friendly against Jordan, conceding an early goal to Saeed Murjan. The Johor Darul Ta'zim keeper also made a bad decision to come off his line midway through the first half but had the help of Matthew Davies to clear away the danger.

The defence however did look comfortable for the rest of match and there's a good understanding building up among the back five. Farizal is familiar with Shahrul Saad having played with him in last year's AFF Championship while Adam Nor Azlin and La'Vere Corbin-Ong are club team mates of him.

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