Striker Safee Sali is refusing to give up despite Malaysia's 2-1 deficit from the first leg when they take on Vietnam in Hanoi on Thursday night in the AFF Suzuki Cup semi-final second leg.
Malaysia were no match for the in form Vietnamese on Sunday night at the Shah Alam Stadium. Despite taking an early lead through a spot-kick from Safiq Rahim, the Malaysians saw Vietnam come back with goals from Vo Huy Toan and Nguyen Van Quyet to bring home a significant advantage.
With all the pre-match talk revolving around the violence in the stands, Dollah Salleh's men are trying to focus on the task at hand, with Safee insisting that all is not lost.
Speaking to The Star, the Johor Darul Takzim (JDT) star reckons his side must work doubly hard. But they have the belief that they can shock the home team in front of an anticipated full house at the My Dinh Stadium.
"Nothing went right for us in the first-leg. Except for the early penalty, we were under tremendous pressure. But it's pointless talking about that now," Safee said.
"We have to buck up and turn this tie around. We need to study their game in-depth and watch the video of the first-leg match so that we can correct our mistakes. The fleet-footed Vietnam players used their speed to their advantage and were always a step ahead of us.
"Now they have the advantage of playing at home, but let's not lose hope. We have to stop them and we can do it because we have an experienced set of players, who have played under these situations before.
"More importantly, we must believe in ourselves to get the job done."
Leong - Vietnam outclass Malaysian side who lacked spark
Harimau Malaya arrived on Monday in Hanoi to acclimatise to the weather which is expected to drop as low as 10°C on Thursday. The suspended duo of Amri Yahyah and Shukor Adan are back in training, ready to help their teammates overturn the deficit.
Head coach Dollah Salleh is also in good spirits. But he's been wracking his brains to put out a game plan that will give his team the edge once they take to the field against Toshiya Miura's side.
"The players are adapting well to the chilly weather." said Dollah. "I'm drawing up the game plan. It's harder for us now as we need to chase the game.
"Our suspended players will be back and that's a big boost for us. We now need to get our game plan right."
It remains to be seen if Dollah will stick to the central defensive partnership of Muslim Ahmad and Fadhli Shas. The latter's starting berth may go to the experienced legs of Shukor. But there is also the possibility that the veteran will take up a defensive midfield role to allow Safiq Rahim to move forward to support the attackers.