Kapuls to play Malaysia

By PATRICIA KEAMO
THE Papua New Guinea men’s football team are aiming to give their best against Malaysia tonight in the international friendly set for 11pm kickoff (PNG-time) at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Kuala Terengganu.
Head coach Harrison Kamake said the team picked out some errors from the 2-2 stalemate against Singapore on Friday.
The Kapuls left Port Moresby on Thursday for Singapore and had a short preparation time before taking on the Lions on Friday to come out with a draw.
“The first game (against Singapore) was tough especially the second half as the players had to adjust between travelling and pre-match mental preparation,” Kamake told The National yesterday.
“They had a slow start in the first half and at times lacked discipline in our defensive objective but I commend them for their overall performance, especially in the second half.”
Singapore scored in the 22nd minute to lead before Ati Kepo equalised for the Kapuls in the 42nd minute.
Kapuls celebrations were short lived as the host side fired one back to lead 2-1 before a sloppy clearance by the Lions defence minutes late deflected off skipper Raymond Gunemba to seal the score 2-2 going into the break.
“I reminded them during the break to work on the things that we did at training in the days leading up to the friendlies,” said Kamake.
“We had a fair amount of ball possession in the second half and we could have scored a couple of goals towards the backend of the game but unfortunately couldn’t put away our chances.”
Kamake said post-match, he stressed on the need to be composed in front of goal and convert opportunities into goals.
“We do have a couple of injuries but we’ll have to wait and see on the 11th hour if these players can fully recover in time for the game against Malaysia,” Kamake said ahead of their clash tonight.
“The Kapuls will be ready.
“Malaysia is a very good all-around team and we respect them but we are here to compete so our approach as always is to be confident and disciplined in all areas. I trust the team will give their best for their country.”