Malaysia will also have to contend with Middle East giants Bahrain and Syria in Group C.
The draw for the qualifying tournament, held at the AFC House in Bukit Jalil yesterday, also placed South Korea in Group A with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Group B comprises Australia, Iraq, Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Japan are the No. 1 ranked team in Asia and will be the toughest hurdle for the Malaysian team, who are ranked last among the 12 Asian teams for the final round, which is scheduled to kick off in September.
National Under-23 coach Ong Kim Swee feels that “it doesn’t make much difference which group we were drawn in”.
“It makes no difference whether we are in Group A , B or C. Everyone knows the quality of the teams in the final round of the competition and the best we can do is to create some upsets,” Kim Swee said after the draw yesterday.
Malaysia last played against Japan in the Under-23 football competition of the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, last November. Then, Japan beat Malaysia 2-0 in the preliminary round en route to winning the gold medal. Malaysia’s campaign ended in the round of 16 after losing 1-3 to Iran.
Hiromi Hara, the Japan FA technical director, said they now had a new set of players.
“We will also have some new faces in the team for the final round. But I feel Malaysia will be a team to be reckoned too,” Hiromi said through an interpreter yesterday.
Kim Swee acknowledged the strength of the top-ranked Japanese team, who have qualified for the Olympics eight times.
“We have to be prepared for the matches and we are trying to arrange for a warm-up game against the South Korean Olympic team before we face Japan on Sept 21,” said Kim Swee.
Malaysia beat Pakistan (2-0 on aggregate) in the opening round and Lebanon (2-1 on aggregate) in the next round.
Malaysia will open their final round campaign against Japan on Sept 21 (away) before playing Syria (Nov 23) and Bahrain (Nov 27) at home. The remaining three fixtures will be played next year – against Bahrain (Feb 5, away), Japan (Feb 22, home) and Syria (March 14, away).
The group winners will qualify for the London Games. The second-placed teams will then playoff at a centralised venue from March 25-29 and the winner will then face an African side for a place in the Olympics. Asia have 3.5 slots for the London Olympics.
Kim Swee said that the some of the final round fixtures would be quite close to the Indonesian SEA Games, which will be held from Nov 11-25.
Malaysia are the defending champions and Kim Swee, who will be in charge of the SEA Games squad, explained that he would look at the competition dates for the Games before studying his options.
For the record, Malaysia have only qualified twice for the Olympics – in 1972 (Munich) and 1980 (Moscow).
The draw for the qualifying tournament, held at the AFC House in Bukit Jalil yesterday, also placed South Korea in Group A with Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Oman. Group B comprises Australia, Iraq, Uzbekistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Japan are the No. 1 ranked team in Asia and will be the toughest hurdle for the Malaysian team, who are ranked last among the 12 Asian teams for the final round, which is scheduled to kick off in September.
National Under-23 coach Ong Kim Swee feels that “it doesn’t make much difference which group we were drawn in”.
“It makes no difference whether we are in Group A , B or C. Everyone knows the quality of the teams in the final round of the competition and the best we can do is to create some upsets,” Kim Swee said after the draw yesterday.
Malaysia last played against Japan in the Under-23 football competition of the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, last November. Then, Japan beat Malaysia 2-0 in the preliminary round en route to winning the gold medal. Malaysia’s campaign ended in the round of 16 after losing 1-3 to Iran.
Hiromi Hara, the Japan FA technical director, said they now had a new set of players.
“We will also have some new faces in the team for the final round. But I feel Malaysia will be a team to be reckoned too,” Hiromi said through an interpreter yesterday.
Kim Swee acknowledged the strength of the top-ranked Japanese team, who have qualified for the Olympics eight times.
“We have to be prepared for the matches and we are trying to arrange for a warm-up game against the South Korean Olympic team before we face Japan on Sept 21,” said Kim Swee.
Malaysia beat Pakistan (2-0 on aggregate) in the opening round and Lebanon (2-1 on aggregate) in the next round.
Malaysia will open their final round campaign against Japan on Sept 21 (away) before playing Syria (Nov 23) and Bahrain (Nov 27) at home. The remaining three fixtures will be played next year – against Bahrain (Feb 5, away), Japan (Feb 22, home) and Syria (March 14, away).
The group winners will qualify for the London Games. The second-placed teams will then playoff at a centralised venue from March 25-29 and the winner will then face an African side for a place in the Olympics. Asia have 3.5 slots for the London Olympics.
Kim Swee said that the some of the final round fixtures would be quite close to the Indonesian SEA Games, which will be held from Nov 11-25.
Malaysia are the defending champions and Kim Swee, who will be in charge of the SEA Games squad, explained that he would look at the competition dates for the Games before studying his options.
For the record, Malaysia have only qualified twice for the Olympics – in 1972 (Munich) and 1980 (Moscow).
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