Politicians from both sides of the divide expressed their support for Malaysia to defeat Thailand and take home the gold in tonight's SEA Games 2017 football finals. 

Bernama quoted Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s expressing hope that Malaysia will edge defending champions Thailand at least 1-0, at the Shah Alam Stadium.

“Their (Thailand’s) quality of play is good but both teams are evenly matched. It will be a close match and I am praying that our boys will win with at least a 1-0 victory,” he was quoted saying after a ceremony to hand over cattle for sacrifice in conjunction with the Aidiladha celebration for the Bagan Datuk parliamentary constituency today.

He then urged Malaysians to show their utmost support to national coach Ong Kim Swee and his players. 

Meanwhile, Pakatan Harapan chairperson Dr Mahathir Mohamad, in what could be his shortest blog post yet, wished the local team the best of luck for the match.

"I hope in the race for the trophy, Malaysian players and football fans will continue to display a high level of sportsmanship. Malaysia Boleh!" he wrote.

Selangor Menteri Besar Mohamed Azmin Ali, in a statement, also congratulated national athletes, especially those from Selangor, for the excellent performance showed throughout the tournament.

He noted that athletes from Selangor had brought home 74 medals from 41 events in the tournament - 31 of which are gold, 23 silver, and 20 bronze. 

Azmin attributed the success to sports development programmes carried out by the state government. 

"In every competition, there will be winners and losers, but what matters is sportsmanship and the grit to weather the challenges thrown," he said.