KUALA LUMPUR: National team interim coach Pau Marti Vicente commended his players for their strong start in the Merdeka Tournament following a 2-1 victory over the Philippines.
The match, held at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil, saw the world No 147 Filipino team take the lead with an own goal by Feroz Baharuddin in the 27th minute.
Malaysia, ranked No 134, responded with a goal from Syamer Kutty Abba in the 42nd minute and a penalty by Safawi Rasid in the 72nd minute.
The final, scheduled for Sunday, will feature Malaysia's Harimau Malaya against Lebanon, who narrowly defeated Tajikistan 1-0 in an earlier match.
Vicente emphasized the significance of the win for the team, especially given the recent coaching change following Kim Pan Gon's resignation in July.
"The win is more important for the team than me after changing the head coach. They need to step up to show they are good and they did it," said the Spaniard in the post-match press conference.
"It feels good to win, it was a very difficult game but we deserve the result. In the last 10 minutes we suffered. The Philippines was strong and physical, we were made to work hard in the end."
"It was very difficult to get the results, we are in the final and we will celebrate a bit and focus on the final."
Meanwhile, the Azkals coach Norman Fegidero Jr said that their two denied penalties could have changed the outcome of the match.
"I'm very happy with the player, we put up a very good fight till the final whistle," said the Filipino legend.
"We thought we had penalties in the first and second halves. When the players get emotional with the referee's decision it is difficult, we cannot control that and the referee's decision is final."
"If the two penalties were given by the referee we could have won 3-2. We will now focus on preparing for the match against Tajikistan."