Ong Kim Swee wants the seniors perform against Chelsea

National Under-23 coach Ong Kim Swee hopes that the nine senior players in the Malaysian XI squad will prove their worth in the friendly match against Chelsea at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Thursday.

Kim Swee, who have been tasked to coach the Malaysian XI, intends to mix and match the nine players from the Super League teams with his Olympic squad against the English Premier League stalwarts.

“This match will be a treat for the Olympic team who did well to qualify to the final round of Asian Olympic 2012 qualifier,” said Kim Swee at the Chelsea Asia Tour Press Conference at the One World Hotel yesterday.

“This match will also provide the senior players the chance to fight for a place in the national senior team. I intend to play two different sets of players for each half. I hope the senior players will prove themselves.”

The nine senior players are Norhafiz Zamani Misbah, 30, Amri Yahyah, 30, Hairuddin Omar, 32, Badhri Radzi, 29, Daudsu Jamaluddin, 26, S. Subramaniam, 26, Shahrulnizam Mustapa, 30, Joseph Kalang Tie, 24, and goalkeeper Farizal Marlias, 25.

Kim Swee reckons that the experience brought in by the senior players is vital as the Olympic squad have been “robbed” of seven players.

The seven – Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, Mahali Jasuli, Mohd Fadhli Mohd Shas, Mohd Muslim Ahmad, K. Gurusamy, Ahmad Fakri Saarani and Izzaq Faris Ramlan – have been called up to the national senior side to play in the Asia Zone World Cup second round, first leg qualifier against Singapore on Saturday.

“The nine seniors have been training with the Olympic squad since last week and have shown good attitude and team work.

“Training together with senior players will be beneficial to the younger players.

“We don’t have our first choice centre-backs in the team and hopefully the seniors who take over can stop Chelsea strikers Didier Drogba and Fernando Torres.”

The Olympic squad will leave for Slovakia on Friday for a training camp which will end on July 28.

“The Chelsea match is not a part of our preparation for the final round of Asian Olympic 2012 qualifiers as we are missing a several key players,”said Kim Swee.

The Under-23 squad have been drawn in Group C alongside Japan, Bahrain and Syria in the final round of the 2012 Olympic qualifiers.

Malaysia start their campaign against Japan on Sept 21 before two home matches against Syria (Nov 23) and Bahrain (Nov 27).