KUALA LUMPUR (9 July 2011) – Ong Kim Swee, the chief coach of the Malaysian Olympic squad, has called on his chargers to minimise mistakes ahead of their campaign in the final third round of the 2012 Olympic Games qualifiers which will be begin in September.
At the draw which was made at the AFC House recentlty the Malaysians – the only surviving ASEAN representative in the third round, were drawn in Group C against Japan, Syria and Bahrain.
Malaysia’s first game in the group is away to Japan on 21 September 2011 while their final game is away to Syria on 14 March 2014.
“Every group is strong and I don’t consider we are in an easier group compared to others. We have to minimise our mistakes if we want to win something. I have not set any target but we will try our best,” said Kim Swee.
“We are aiming to get full points from all three of our home matches. If we can do that, then we stand an outside chance to qualify.
“The FA of Malaysia (FAM) will try to arrange a friendly match with Korea Republic to prepare the team for Japan as both teams are similar in strength and ability,” he added.
“After the game against Chelsea on 21 July 2011, we will go to Slovakia for a one-month intensive training stint. Japan are the Guangzhou Asian Games champions. They have strong players and are technically superior.
“Bahrain are one of the best West Asian teams and they are very well organised. Syria have been very consistent recently and playing in West Asia is not going to be easy for us.”
2012 OLYMPIC GAMES QUALIFIERS – Third Round
GROUP A – Korea Republic, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia
GROUP B – Australia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan
GROUP C- Bahrain, Japan, Malaysia, Syria
