DOHA: Coach Kim Pan Gon apologised to Malaysian football fans for the 4-0 thrashing by Jordan in their Group E opener in the Asian Cup at the Al Janoub Stadium yesterday.
The South Korean admitted it was the national team's worst performance since he took over in January 2022.
"Jordan made a good first half start but for us, I think, maybe playing on this kind of stage, we got a little bit nervous," said Pan Gon.
Malaysia's previous biggest losses under Pan Gon were against Vietnam in December, 2022 (3-0) and Thailand in January, 2023 (3-0).
Despite the 4-0 loss that sent Malaysia to the bottom of Group E, Pan Gon believes that his team will be able to sort out their weaknesses before their next match against Bahrain on Jan 20.
"We have two more games and nobody knows what the outcome will be. Bahrain and South Korea are both good sides.
"We must learn something new to prepare well for the next game as it is important for us," said Pan Gon.
Though his team routed Malaysia, Jordan coach Hussein Ammouta claimed that Harimau Malaya have evolved over the years.
Jordan did the damage against Malaysia with two goals each from Mahmoud Al Mardi (12th and 32nd minutes) and Mousa Al Tamari (18th and 85th).