PETALING JAYA: South Korea, Australia and Japan are the football heavyweights from Asia who will be leading the charge for the three automatic slots for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The three have been seeded for the 12-team final round competition ahead of the Asian Zone Olympic football draw that will be held at the AFC House in Bukit Jalil today.
The 12 are ranked based on the Asian qualifiers at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The 12 teams according to their rankings are: South Korea, Australia, Japan, Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Uzbekistan, Oman, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Malaysia.
Malaysia are the sole representative from Southeast Asia and are ranked last among the 12 Asian teams in the fray.
National Under-23 coach Ong Kim Swee said it was already a huge achievement for his boys to be among the cream of Asia after getting past Pakistan (2-0 on aggregate) and Lebanon (2-1 on aggregate) in the earlier rounds.
“This is where the real challenge begins and I am looking forward to the draw because it will give me an idea of what to expect in the final round,” said Kim Swee yesterday.
Malaysia are to be grouped with one of the top three seeded teams – South Korea, Australia and Japan.
The second batch of seeded teams are Iraq, Bahrain and Qatar and the third are Saudi Arabia, Syria and Uzbekistan.
“All I know is that we will play either South Korea, Australia or Japan away on Sept 21 before playing the next two games at home on Nov 23 and Nov 27,” said Kim Swee.
Asia have 3.5 slots for the London Olympics. The 12 winners in the second round will be divided into three groups of four teams each and the matches will be played from Sept 21-March 14.
The group winners qualify for the London Games. The second-placed teams will then playoff at a centralised venue from March 25-29 and the winner will face an African side for a place in the Olympics.
For the record, Malaysia have only qualified twice for the Olympics – in 1972 (Munich) and 1980 (Moscow).
The three have been seeded for the 12-team final round competition ahead of the Asian Zone Olympic football draw that will be held at the AFC House in Bukit Jalil today.
The 12 are ranked based on the Asian qualifiers at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The 12 teams according to their rankings are: South Korea, Australia, Japan, Iraq, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Uzbekistan, Oman, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Malaysia.
Malaysia are the sole representative from Southeast Asia and are ranked last among the 12 Asian teams in the fray.
National Under-23 coach Ong Kim Swee said it was already a huge achievement for his boys to be among the cream of Asia after getting past Pakistan (2-0 on aggregate) and Lebanon (2-1 on aggregate) in the earlier rounds.
“This is where the real challenge begins and I am looking forward to the draw because it will give me an idea of what to expect in the final round,” said Kim Swee yesterday.
Malaysia are to be grouped with one of the top three seeded teams – South Korea, Australia and Japan.
The second batch of seeded teams are Iraq, Bahrain and Qatar and the third are Saudi Arabia, Syria and Uzbekistan.
“All I know is that we will play either South Korea, Australia or Japan away on Sept 21 before playing the next two games at home on Nov 23 and Nov 27,” said Kim Swee.
Asia have 3.5 slots for the London Olympics. The 12 winners in the second round will be divided into three groups of four teams each and the matches will be played from Sept 21-March 14.
The group winners qualify for the London Games. The second-placed teams will then playoff at a centralised venue from March 25-29 and the winner will face an African side for a place in the Olympics.
For the record, Malaysia have only qualified twice for the Olympics – in 1972 (Munich) and 1980 (Moscow).
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