Victory leaves Rajagobal in buoyant mood

Hanoi: Malaysia coach K. Rajagobal has set his sights on lifting the AFF Suzuki Cup after his team booked their place in the 2010 final with a 2-0 aggregate win over defending champions Vietnam.

A 0-0 draw in Hanoi was the perfect compliment to Malaysia's two-goal victory at Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday evening and Rajagobal is now relishing the prospect of lifting the title for the first time in the country's history.

"Looking at the situation now I'm very optimistic," said the former Selangor coach. "When we won against Vietnam at home I was very confident.

"The boys have progressed, they are confident and I don't need to motivate them. This is what they have wanted."

With Indonesia defeating the Philippines in the first leg of their semifinal in Jakarta on Thursday evening, there is a very real chance the Malaysians will go face-to-face with the team that defeated them 5-1 in the opening game of the tournament.

But the coach is confident his side has improved throughout the competition and that the Indonesians will not have matters their own way this time around.

"If we have the opportunity to play Indonesia it's going to be a different ball game," he said. "This is the year for Malaysia to surprise, we are in the final and I think we will go all the way."

Rajagobal was delighted with his team's defensive performance against the Vietnamese and the draw in Hanoi was enough to earn Malaysia a place in the final for the first time since the inaugural competition back in 1996.

"As a coach, I'm very, very happy. I can't express my emotions at this moment, especially with this young squad," he said. "They are real fighters, they are real Malaysian tigers.

"I knew it would be tough going up against Vietnam, the defending champions. They were very confident and felt if we could score two goals then they could score two goals.

"But we were very disciplined. We knew in the first 15 to 20 minutes if Vietnam had scored we would have been in big trouble. The football probably wasn't the most entertaining but we deserved the result.

"We are in the final and we have beaten the defending champions so we are looking forward to the final with peace of mind and the players will be geared up for the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010."

http://www.affsuzukicup.com/