KUALA LUMPUR: Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli knows how the present Harimau Malaya team must have felt. He suffered a similar humiliation when he played in the 2007 Asian Cup.
He said this is no time for Harimau Malaya to wallow in self pity after their crushing 4-0 loss to Jordan on Monday in their Asian Cup Group E opener in Doha.
Akmal urged the team to quickly get back on their feet and be ready for their next match, against Bahrain on Saturday.
Akmal said he empathises with Kim Pan Gon's team. "All the players are demoralised by the defeat as there were high expectations from the fans.
"But the reality is the other countries in the Asian Cup are more experienced in playing at this level and are better than us. We have a lot of catching up to do.
"It's not easy to play at the highest level in Asia. Malaysia now face a must-win match against Bahrain and will have to get a positive result against South Korea in the final group match.
"We still have a chance and the players need to bounce back. I believe the coaching staff will have done their analysis and work on the corrections for the Bahrain match."
ld not think about the defeat anymore and need to look forward to the remaining matches. They need to have confidence.
I think the players are experienced enough as they had played in the Asian Champions League and AFC Cup, as well as in foreign countries."