Khairul Fahmi Che Mat expects to be a busy man tomorrow when Malaysia open their Olympic qualifying campaign with a third round Group A match against Japan at the Tosu Stadium.
Having emerged unscathed in the previous two rounds against Pakistan and Lebanon, the national Under-22 team face their biggest test of the qualifiers so far.
And they come no bigger than Asian Games gold medalists Japan, who came through 4-3 on aggregate against Kuwait in the second round despite losing the away second leg 2-1.
Some of the Japanese players in the squad will not be unfamiliar to Khairul Fahmi, who faced nine of them at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.
Nagoya Grampus striker Kensuke Nagai and Cerezo Osaka midfielder Hotaru Yamaguchi scored against the Kelantan shot-stopper in Japan's 2-0 preliminary victory in Guangzhou and will return to terrorise the Malaysian defenders.
"It will be a big match for us but we have prepared well and are ready to face Japan. We know they are a big team in Asia but we are only thinking about giving it our best and nothing else," said Khairul Fahmi, after playing in a 1-0 friendly defeat against Oman in Shah Alam on Thursday.
The team arrived in Fukuoka on Friday and settled in to do a few drills, especially the strikers who found goals hard to come by in the preliminary rounds.
All four of Malaysia's goals so far have been scored by midfielders Wan Zack Haikal Wan Nor, Wan Zaharulnizam Wan Zakaria and Irfan Fazail (two), who has often been deployed as a second striker as the forwards struggle to find their range.
But Irfan is carrying a niggling knee injury which has coach Ong Kim Swee concerned.
"Irfan is the only player who is carrying an injury and we are worried he may not shake it off in time. We are monitoring his situation and hope he recovers soon," said Kim Swee.
Irfan would likely play in midfield along side K. Gurusamy against Japan but Abdul Shukor Jusoh is on standby to fill in as regular Gary Steven Robbat is suspended along with striker Ahmad Fakri Saarani.
Izzaq Faris Ramlan and Syahrul Azwari Ibrahim are favoured to start upfront although Kim Swee could spring a surprise by fielding the nippy Ahmad Hazwan Bakri or the agile A. Thamil Arasu.
The 20-year-old Hazwan has impressed this season by scoring seven goals for Kuala Lumpur in the Super League and is eager to make his Malaysia debut, having never played at any age-group level for the country.
"If I'm fielded, it would be the first time I'd be playing for Malaysia. I'm fortunate to have been called up and if given the chance, I hope to show Malaysians what I can do," said the Labuan-born Hazwan, who has a wicked left-footed swerving shot which has bamboozled several goalkeepers in the league.
Having emerged unscathed in the previous two rounds against Pakistan and Lebanon, the national Under-22 team face their biggest test of the qualifiers so far.
And they come no bigger than Asian Games gold medalists Japan, who came through 4-3 on aggregate against Kuwait in the second round despite losing the away second leg 2-1.
Some of the Japanese players in the squad will not be unfamiliar to Khairul Fahmi, who faced nine of them at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.
Nagoya Grampus striker Kensuke Nagai and Cerezo Osaka midfielder Hotaru Yamaguchi scored against the Kelantan shot-stopper in Japan's 2-0 preliminary victory in Guangzhou and will return to terrorise the Malaysian defenders.
"It will be a big match for us but we have prepared well and are ready to face Japan. We know they are a big team in Asia but we are only thinking about giving it our best and nothing else," said Khairul Fahmi, after playing in a 1-0 friendly defeat against Oman in Shah Alam on Thursday.
The team arrived in Fukuoka on Friday and settled in to do a few drills, especially the strikers who found goals hard to come by in the preliminary rounds.
All four of Malaysia's goals so far have been scored by midfielders Wan Zack Haikal Wan Nor, Wan Zaharulnizam Wan Zakaria and Irfan Fazail (two), who has often been deployed as a second striker as the forwards struggle to find their range.
But Irfan is carrying a niggling knee injury which has coach Ong Kim Swee concerned.
"Irfan is the only player who is carrying an injury and we are worried he may not shake it off in time. We are monitoring his situation and hope he recovers soon," said Kim Swee.
Irfan would likely play in midfield along side K. Gurusamy against Japan but Abdul Shukor Jusoh is on standby to fill in as regular Gary Steven Robbat is suspended along with striker Ahmad Fakri Saarani.
Izzaq Faris Ramlan and Syahrul Azwari Ibrahim are favoured to start upfront although Kim Swee could spring a surprise by fielding the nippy Ahmad Hazwan Bakri or the agile A. Thamil Arasu.
The 20-year-old Hazwan has impressed this season by scoring seven goals for Kuala Lumpur in the Super League and is eager to make his Malaysia debut, having never played at any age-group level for the country.
"If I'm fielded, it would be the first time I'd be playing for Malaysia. I'm fortunate to have been called up and if given the chance, I hope to show Malaysians what I can do," said the Labuan-born Hazwan, who has a wicked left-footed swerving shot which has bamboozled several goalkeepers in the league.
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