KUALA LUMPUR (27 Oct 2011) – With the fine showing of the non-regulars at the recent VFF Cup 2011 to be considered Ong Kim Swee, the chief coach of the Malaysia national Under-23 side has decided to name his squad only after the friendly against Laos this Sunday.
The Malaysians are defending the gold medal at the SEA Games with their campaign in Group B against Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Cambodia to begin only on 9 November 2011.
The team under Kim Swee played with ten absentees at the VFF Cup in Hanoi where despite losing 3-1 in the opener to Uzbekistan, they managed to beat Myanmar 2-1 before holding hosts Vietnam to a 1-1 draw.
“I fielded three Under-19 defenders (Mohd Amer Saidin, Syazwan Tajuddin and Mohd Fandi Othman) at the VFF Cup and they did well against older opponents,” said Kim Swee of the tournament which was restricted to players under the age of 23-years-old.
“We can only bring 20 players to Jakarta, so this means the Olympic squad team players will also have to fight hard for their place.”
Among the players who will be jostling for a place are the trio of Mohd Fadhli Shas, Mohd Irfan Fazail and Wan Zack Haikal Wan Noor, who played for Vion Zlate Moravce in the Slovakian First Division.
“We will only name the squad after the match against Laos,” added Kim Swee.
