KUALA LUMPUR: After competing the friendly matches with two outfits from the English Premier League (EPL), Arsenal FC and Manchester City FC, national football coach Datuk K Rajagobal hopes the Malaysian Tigers will be able to be more competitive in the Southeast Asian level.
Manchester City in a friendly match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil here Monday night, defeated Malaysia 3-1 in their first appearance in Malaysia as part of their 2012 summer tour.
Rajagobal said he had expected the match against EPL’s champion, Manchester City to be difficult to the national team.
“After watching them in the pre-season, their physical (condition) and the combination were very strong… and the speed when they attacked, especially Carlos Teves, Sergio Aguero, and the two mid-fielders.
“The Malaysians had to play with the strong world class players and they did well,” he told reporters after the match, Monday night.
On July 24, Malaysia lost to Arsenal, 1-2 in a friendly match at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
“I’m happy with both matches which were really good test matches and the players learnt a lot from these two matches,” said Rajagobal.
Meanwhile, Manchester City FC’s head coach, Roberto Mancini said he was pleased with his boys’ performances last night and hoped to come back here next year.
“Both teams played good, I hope we can come back next year. I’m sure that the national team, with the good management, will be better in the future.
“All the players were the same, we tried to maintain the momentum,” said Mancini, who revamped his team in the second half of the match last night. — Bernama