THOUGH Laos humiliated Malaysia in the Under-23 AFF Cup three months ago, Brad Maloney's boys are poised to take revenge today in the Sea Games.
After stunning 16-time Sea Games champions Thailand 2-1 in their Group B opener last week, Malaysia are brimming with confidence this time at the Thien Truong Stadium, Nam Dinh.
At the AFF meet, a depleted Malaysian team suffered 2-0 and 2-1 defeats to lowly Laos, leading to fans lambasting the Young Tigers on social media.
However, the stage is set for the Young Tigers to redeem themselves today.
Nur Azfar Fikri Azhar, the hero of Malaysia's win over Thailand with an injury time goal, admitted that the two earlier losses to Laos "hurt" the team.
Midfielder Azfar, who is known as Kaka, vowed to play hard and make Laos pay if he is fielded.
Against Thailand with 10 minutes to go, he had come in as a reserve and replaced Luqman Hakim Shamsudin.
Laos started their Sea Games campaign with a creditable 2-2 draw with Singapore last week but suffered a 4-1 loss to Cambodia on Monday.
Malaysia will have to keep an eye on Laos captain Bounphachan Bounkong and midfielder Thanouthong Kietnalonglop as both are linchpins of their team.
Maloney said his players are in high spirits but warned that Laos are capable of raising their game.
The Australian coach urged his team to keep their feet on the ground following their rousing show against heavyweights Thailand.
"Laos have always given us a tough fight. They have good players and are a team who don't get the credit that they should get.
"We respect Laos, they have quality and can cause trouble.
"We will stick to our philosophy and stay positive.
"The Thai game was very physical and our players picked up knocks and bruises. Our medical staff are working hard on keeping the players fresh.
"The players have been playing in the M-League, so there's no problem with fitness but we have to be careful playing through a tight round of fixtures."
Maloney said he believes striker Hadi Fayyadh Abdul Razak, who plays for Japanese club, Azul Claro Numazu, will soon score after coming in as a reserve against Thailand.
"Hadi is a great asset with his size up front. He also brings with him the experience of playing in Japan," said Maloney.