KUALA LUMPUR: The scoreline hurts, but the sight of rugger Amin Jamaluddin back on the pitch for the national squad's clash against Hong Kong yesterday has at least given Malaysian fans something to cheer about.
Just a fortnight ago, the fan favourite contracted dengue and had to spend five nights in hospital — three of which were in the Intensive Care Unit.
He subsequently missed Malaysia's first Asia Rugby Championship (ARC) match this season against South Korea (June 2), which Malaysia lost 55-5 in Incheon.
Malaysia also lost the match against Hong Kong, who are the defending champions, with a score of 70-6 at the Universiti Putra Malaysia Stadium in Serdang.
Amin, who plied his trade with German top-tier side Pforzheim between 2019-2022, was nevertheless pleased to be back after the "terrible" bout with dengue.
"It (dengue) was bad," said Amin yesterday.
"At first, I thought I was feeling weak because I had been training in the midday sun, but then it started to get worse.
"I would feel relatively okay in the day, but then get a terrible fever at night. I then lost my appetite and started to get diarrhoea. I felt really weak. It was then I realised I had to get treatment in hospital.
"I spent five days there and after that, had to take it easy for the first few days after being discharged. I was only able to do very light, non-contact training. But I have recovered now and feel that I am back to 100 per cent."
Amin, 35, said he expected very tough matches against South Korea and Hong Kong.
He is hoping to help the Bunga Raya squad to secure its first win in the ARC competition against the United Arab Emirates on June 21.
Playing UAE in Dubai, however, will not be easy.
"We already knew that these two teams (South Korea and Hong Kong) were both very strong," said Amin.
"There was not much we could do against them. What we can do, however, is to learn from our mistakes and improve on them before we play our next match.
"The UAE, like Hong Kong, also have a lot of heavy boys' in their side, so we have to adapt our strategy to suit the game. Regardless, we will fight to the end and try to secure our first win."
The match against UAE may potentially decide which team gets relegated to Division One next season.
The UAE lost their opening match against Hong Kong on June 1 with a score of 52-5 at the Hong Kong Football Stadium.
The UAE are scheduled to play South Korea in their second match in Dubai tonight.