Timor Leste urged to be more aggressive in the second leg

After losing 3-0 in the first leg of their Asia Cup 2019 playoff against Malaysia, Timor Leste head coach, Fabio Maciel has urged his players to be more aggressive in order to overturn the tie.

While admitting that it will be a tough for them to find a win, Maciel wants his players to keep on fighting and give a good game against the Malayan Tigers.

According to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) website, Maciel stated: “It will not be easy to overcome the first leg loss, especially when we did not score the important away goal, but we will concentrate to make a good game tomorrow.”

“There will be a few changes in my side as we need to be more aggressive and have more possession of the ball. We have to be more intelligent in the way we play.”

The second leg of the tie will take place at the Tan Sri Hassan Yunos Stadium again and as they have spent some time in Johor, Maciel believes that they are more ready for the second leg.

“My boys are ready for the second leg. We have adapted better to the environment and corrected some mistakes from the first leg during training these few days.”

“If Malaysia relax after the big lead, we will be looking to take advantage and hope to spring a surprise.”

Malaysia took a comfortable lead going into the second leg, after a brace by Hazwan Bakri and a goal by Amri Yahyah gave them a 3-0 win in the first leg.