Kyrgyz Republic 'On Their Toes' Over Fast Malaysian Attackers

MELAKA (Malaysia), Oct 15 (Bernama) -- Kyrgyz Republic players will be ‘on their toes’ over fast Malaysian attackers in their friendly match at Hang Jebat Stadium, Krubong here on Tuesday night, said the team head coach Alexander Krestinin. Krestinin, 40, said the team had scouted the Malaysian football team and had found out that Harimau Malaya had a group of fast attackers that can be a threat to Kyrgyz Republic team fondly known as ‘The White Falcons’. “We don’t identify any particular players (that can be a threat) but they (Malaysia) have a high-quality group of attackers that is fast and good, so this is not an easy match preparation. “Malaysia also achieved a big win in their last match. We take this game seriously and had gained a lot of information about the Malaysian team. So we are ready to face them,” he told a press conference here today. Also present was their team captain Edgar Bernhardt a midfielder for GKS Tychy a football club in Poland. Malaysia beat Sri Langka 4-1 in another friendly match at Colombo last Friday. Krestinin said he also did not have any particular strategy to nullify the fast Malaysian attackers and believed the Kyrgyz Republic could cope with the fast players by playing their natural game. “We have been here around a week and thank you so much for the hospitality, but most importantly, we had done well in adapting to the weather and the field here,” he said. The Russian said the match tomorrow would be important to prepare for their first AFC Asian Cup finals participation next year at the United Arab Emirates. “Preparation (for AFC Asian Cup) is going well and we are getting a lot of information, we are still rotating our squad to get the list of the best players for AFC Cup. We look into statistics, the performance of each players and only pick the best,” he said. -- BERNAMA