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After having had the honor of coaching the national football team, Nazri Nasir could not have asked for a harder opponent in his debut, which could turn his dream job into a nightmare.
The former national captain will face the stress and tension of the match against Malaysia tonight at the AirMarine Cup at Bukit Jalil stadium.
"The pressure is a pleasure," he told The Straits Times in Kuala Lumpur with a cheerful tone. "I'm taking this game in a positive way, I see it as a challenge and hope it will erase the players."
On March 7, the Singapore Football Federation announced that Nazri would be acting coach, leading the Lions for this week's AirMarine Cup, the first outing since the Suzuki Cup of the Asean Football Federation in last November.
Singapore will meet Malaysia tonight while Oman will face Afghanistan the same day.
The winners will play the final on Saturday while the losers will play in the match for third place.
Since then, the 48-year-old coach has managed to coach the group only twice. The first, a 90-minute session on Monday, focused on small games and finishing.
The second, a one-hour session, was held last night and focused on tactics.
Apart from goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam, who is nursing a calf, the rest of the team, made up of 22 people, has no problem of injury.
Lions are currently ranked 165th in the world by FIFA, the world governing body of football, while Malaysia ranks two lower.
But in the Suzuki Cup last year, it was the Tigers who got better performances, reaching the final before losing 3-2 in Vietnam as the Lions escaped in the group stage.
Tigers coach Tan Cheng Hoe told Malaysian media: "Their morale (that of Malaysian players) is high – that's good, but I want to make sure that they adapt to our way of playing.
"It's different from their clubs, the training sessions were different for them, but they adapted.
"Playing against Singapore will not be easy – I told the boys not to be emotional, but to focus on the game."
And while Malaysia have the home advantage and a better form, Nazri can feel the determination to cross the Singaporean team before the Causeway derby.
He said: "Even after a training session, I can see that all players are eager to leave, guys like (Khairul) Amri, (Khairul) Nizam, Yasir (Hanapi), Gabriel (Quak) and Faris (Ramli) all looked very lively.All players are hungry to be in the first XI.
"We are not going to wait for Malaysia to attack us, we are going to put pressure on them from the start, the odds are very low at international matches, but when they do appear, I want players to be focused and take those risks. .
"We are not expecting a draw, Malaysia will be a very tough opponent, it's a very big rivalry and both sides want to win, but I trust my players."
MALAYSIA V SINGAPORE
Singtel TV Ch111, 8:40 pm
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