KUALA LUMPUR: Taiwan coach Gary White has dismissed Malaysia's plan to beat his team by eight goals in a World Cup qualifier tomorrow at Bukit Jalil as ''absurd''.
White wondered how is world No. 138 Malaysia going to do that when they could only beat world No. 159 Taiwan 1-0 in the first round in Taipei last November.
And Malaysia did so only with a 'full-strength' team then. Now Harimau Malaya are facing an injury crisis with several key players unavailable.
Sure, everyone sees Taiwan as a punching bag in Group D as they have lost all their five matches so far.
But can Malaysia really bury Taiwan 8-0 or 9-1 or 10-2? Perhaps Brazil can do that, but Malaysia are no Brazil.
White was not in the mood to talk about such absurdness, as he sees it, in today's pre-match press conference in Petaling Jaya.
"I don't want to get into a conversation about the eight goals, but it's ridiculous considering Malaysia only beat us 1-0 last November. We're serious about our game, and we aim to perform in front of a packed stadium, not just a crowd of 20,000," said White.
Taiwan's English coach also described Malaysia, who have several naturalised players as a "United Nations" football team.
"We need to stay grounded and realistic, focusing on who is on the field. We have a strong squad ready to compete.
"The FA of Malaysia has done a good job recruiting players from Brazil, Australia and Belgium. It's like the United Nations team out there. They are a fantastic group of players," said White.
White described his squad as young and determined with a clear objective to beat Malaysia.
"I would love for some of our players to gain experience in the M-League to develop further. Despite missing a few who are playing in the Chinese Super League, our young and enthusiastic squad is here to win," said White.
Taiwan captain Chen Po Liang said: "We're prepared to play with many young players who are eager to enjoy the environment and the stadium. We have come to win."
So, winless Taiwan aim to end their campaign with a win against a Malaysian side who expect to win big themselves.