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Najib Confident Harimau Malaya Will Defend AFF Suzuki Cup


 
PETALING JAYA, Nov 21 (Bernama) -- Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said that he is confident that the Harimau Malaya squad will rise up to the occasion in the AFF Suzuki Cup 2012 tournament that gets underway on Sunday.

The Prime Minister said what was important was that the players must give 100 per cent commitment to the task at hand.

"I have full faith in the coach and players. When we fall we must rise up again. If we want to succeed we must redouble our efforts," he said in his pep talk to the squad at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya here Wednesday.

Najib said it was a great honour for a player to be able to don the Harimau Malaya jersey.

He likened it to his job as prime minister as all the hopes of all Malaysians were placed in him. "When we succeed we will be respected, when we fail we will be heavily criticised by the people. This is a challenge we have to take in our stride," he said.

He said as Prime Minister he represented the government in extending moral support to the team and hoped the fans would be solidly behind as well throughout the prestigious tournament.

He added that rewards awaited the team should they be able to defend the title.

Earlier, Najib had spent about 30 minutes witnessing the squad train for the tournament after which he was given a briefing by team manager Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal and national chief coach Datuk K. Rajagobal on its preparedness.

The prime minister was then presented the team's new jersey with the name Najib and number 11 imprinted on it by team captain Safiq Rahim.

Safiq also pledged before Najib that the Harimau Muda players would give it their all to bring glory for the nation.

Meanwhile, Rajagobal said Najib's visit was just the right tonic for the team before they "went into battle".

"The Prime Minister took time off from his busy schedule to come and talk to us. With the country's leaders and people placing their hopes on us, we must reciprocate by doing our very best," he said.

Malaysia are drawn in Group B in the Suzuki Cup which will be played at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil here, together with Indonesia, Singapore and Laos.

They take on Singapore on Sunday, Laos (Nov 28) and Indonesia, the last edition's runners-up on Dec 1.

Group A is made up of Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and the Philippines.

-- BERNAMA

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