K. RAJAN
THE cool guy is flying in from Europe to save a beleaguered Malaysia in the AFF Cup in Singapore.
Dion Cools, the ice-cool defender who plays for Danish club FC Midtjylland and has seen Champions League action against the likes of Liverpool, will arrive in Singapore tomorrow.
And national coach Tan Cheng Hoe is expected to throw Cools straight into the cauldron, in Malaysia's do or die Group B match against Indonesia at Bishan Stadium on Sunday.
Centre-back Cools is seen as the cavalry charging to the rescue after the Malaysian defence teetered on near collapse following injuries to stalwarts Aidil Zafuan Radzak and Shahrul Saad in the 3-0 rout by Vietnam on Sunday.
Cheng Hoe said Cools, 25, is in good shape for the Indonesia clash and should be able to acclimatise amid coming in from the European winter to the Singapore heat.
There is no time to lose for Cools and there is no need for him to quarantine due to the Malaysia-Singapore Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) agreement
"He can join training immediately once he is here," said Cheng Hoe yesterday.
"I have been in communication with Cools. He is well prepared. His experience and composure will make it easy for him to gel with the rest of the team."
Cools, who is of Belgian-Malaysian parentage, has proved to be an asset for Malaysia in the pre-World Cup in Dubai in June.
"His experience will bring stability to the squad as we will be without Aidil and Shahrul," said Cheng Hoe.
The coach is relying on Cools to form a solid central defence with Dominic Tan in the absence of Aidil and Shahrul.
Cools' arrival is indeed heartwarming for the Malaysian team who had "lost" four players earlier after they tested positive for Covid, apart from injuries to other players.
He could not come in time for Malaysia's ill-fated match against Vietnam three days earlier due to his commitment with FC Midtjylland in the Danish league.
Though Malaysia had started well by beating Cambodia 3-1 and Laos 4-0, Cheng Hoe's team are in danger of missing the semi-finals after the Vietnam setback.
Malaysia are third in Group B behind Indonesia and Vietnam. All three teams have six points each but both Garuda and Golden Star have a game in hand over Harimau Malaya.
The team coached by South Korean coach Shin Tae-yong is currently ranked 166 in the world, while the Malaysians are just 12-rungs above at world No.154.
Cheng Hoe conceded that the Indonesians have transformed a lot under Tae-yong and have several new faces in the squad and had a good preparation playing friendly in Turkey.
"We beat them in 2019 but Indonesia is different now in terms of the way they play. They also have new players and their Korean coach had made the difference with their new generation of players,"
"They prepared well by playing friendlies in Turkey, their players were energetic in their opening two games, they created a lot of chances and scored from it."
"The match against Indonesia is a must-win game, we see their game is similar to Vietnam style and we must not get trapped in their game plan. Every time we play Indonesia, it has been a tight game as they are our rivals in the region."
"We don't want the players to be emotionally disturbed due to the provocations from the outside or the referee's decisions. We need to focus and get the win to progress to the semifinal."