KUALA LUMPUR: For those in FAM who have been claiming that the national team had improved in the past few months, they had better think again,
The truth is that Harimau Malaya still can't really bite, they just don't have the standards to compete at international level. Beating teams like the Philippines (2-1) and war-torn Lebanon (1-0) last month to win the Merdeka Tournament for a so-called improvement in international ranking is nothing to shout about.
And then came the grim reality, the 4-0 whitewash by the All Whites in Auckland on Monday that brutally exposed how weak Malaysia really are.
And New Zealand are not even seen as heavyweights in international football.
World No. 135 Malaysia went Down Under, hoping to upset world No. 95 New Zealand who were expected to be tired from their pre-World Cup match against Tahiti (New Zealand won 3-0) in Vanuatu 48 hours earlier.
But Malaysia never even came close. The Kiwis slammed in four goals without reply from Harimau Malaya at the North Harbour Stadium.
The one-sided match left the national team, under interim coach Pau Marti Vincente, with many soul-searching questions, and clearly they still have plenty of things to fix.
Football critic Dr Zulakbal Abdul Karim said FAM should be realistic, aware of the team's
limitation and work on improving many areas.
"This match is a wake-up call and FAM should realise where our national team actually stand. It's good to have an A-international friendly to challenge our team but we need to learn about the culture in higher level football," said the Asian Football Confederation Professional Coaching Diploma holder.
"The New Zealand National League only started three years ago, but their players have quality. New Zealand football is not at a high level yet, but we could not match them and if we don't learn from our mistakes, we will repeat them.
"We are not ready yet to compete against teams ranked among the world's top 100. New Zealand are not very strong in football but Malaysia are so inferior to them.
"Our coach (Vicente) is from Spain, a nation with a good football structure. Probably he wanted to try something new with our players. It didn't work because our players are not at that level yet."
Zulakbal said that Vicente's former boss and national team coach, Kim Pan Gon, was a bit smarter as he planned well for Harimau Malaya,
The Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris Sports Science associate professor added: "Pan Gon seemed to be more familiar with Malaysian football, probably because when he was with Hong Kong (as their coach), he played Malaysia and knew our strengths," said Zulakbal.
"Under him, we played weaker opponents and gradually played higher-ranked opponents. This brought success and improvement to the team as the players slowly adapted and became confident with the new playing style.
"We will be playing in the Asian Cup qualifiers and we cannot afford to be making mistakes anymore. Vicente had worked with Pan Gon before, perhaps it's time to return to the team's former playing style."