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14th October, 2008
KUALA LUMPUR: Despite lacking international competitions, the National Under-16 squad are confident of making the quarter-finals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-16 Championship in Uzbekistan from Oct 4-19.
The AFC had picked Malaysia as a replacement to play in the championship after the AFC Disciplinary Committee booted out North Korea from the competition on Feb 15, for using over-aged players during their qualifying matches.
“We know that competition will be very stiff even at the group stages but our target is to qualify for the quarter-finals,” national coach Lim Kim Chon told Bernama here yesterday.
Malaysia are drawn in Group D together with Asian powerhouse Japan, UAE and Yemen with the top two teams qualifying for the quarter-finals.
“Japan are undoubtedly the favourite in the group. So, our focus will be on UAE and Yemen as we have never played against the two teams before but I guess their style of play is quite similar to Bahrain,” he said.
The squad under Kim Chon had earned a respectable 1-1 draw against Bahrain during the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Under-16 championship in July and the coach hopes that experience would come in handy for his team.
Kim Chon, a former AFC technical director, said 23 players, including four newcomers who were identified from the Education Ministry Football League held in August, would be on the flight to Uzbekistan.
“As for now, I have an injury free squad and that includes the first choice players. That is a good and I hope the players will remain injury free throughout the tournament,” he said.
However, he added that there were some weaknesses in the squad that needed immediate attention, especially in areas that involve speed and agility of the players.
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