KUALA LUMPUR: Former Pahang footballer Zamri Mazleh believes that the far from perfect pitch at Bukit Jalil can help Malaysia beat Oman in a World Cup qualifier tomorrow.
He felt that the Oman team, who are used to playing on "good" pitches, will find it hard to perform on the "medicore" field at Malaysia's National Stadium.
"Give Oman a top-class pitch like what they are used to, and it would open the room for them to do better," said Zamri.
His comments came after some fans lamented on social media that the National Stadium's field is not in good condition as it is marred by brown spots with little grass.
Malaysia, who lost 2-0 to Oman in the away leg in Muscat last Friday, need to defeat the Arab side in tomorrow's home match to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the next round.
In retrospect, the national team, who were ranked among the elites of Asia in the 1960s-1970s, used to play on not-so-advanced
cowgrass at the Merdeka Stadium.
No one then was complaining about the state of the pitch and everyone was more excited about the exploits of Mokhtar Dahari, Santokh Singh, Soh Chin Aun and company.
Perhaps, it's better that Malaysia use this home advantage of a "less than desirable" field against Oman tomorrow.
