Coach Ong Kim Swee happy with team's performance against Syria

The Malaysia Under-23 team turned in a much improved performance despite their 2-0 loss to Syria in an Asian Zone third round Olympic qualifier at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Wednesday.

Malaysia were outclassed by Japan in their opening Group C match in September but there’s a glimmer of hope  for Malaysian football going by the determined effort the team put up against Syria.

Coach Ong Kim Swee fielded nine players from the team who won the SEA Games gold medal on Monday against the Middle East side but as expected, the tired Harimau Muda could only play positively in the first half before they crumbled after the breather.

The Malaysia Under-23 team turned in a much improved performance despite their 2-0 loss to Syria in an Asian Zone third round Olympic qualifier at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Wednesday.

Kim Swee praised his boys attitude in the match and has promised that his boys will continue to give their best for Sunday’s match against Bahrain.

“I am proud of the boys. They were very tired but still gave their all,” said Kim Swee.

“I’m also touched by the fans who stayed on to cheer the boys after the defeat to Syria.

“We played well in the first half but the players lost concentration in the second due to fatigue and made mistakes which cost us the game.

“Better teams like Syria, or Middle Eastern teams in general, are very good at taking their chances and they did it against us.”

Syria coach Emad Kan Khan said his team had control of the match as they were well prepared.

“We knew the Malaysian players would be tired after the SEA Games final and part of our plan was to tire them out in the first half,” said Emad.

“We piled on the pressure in the second half and focused on attacking from the wings to create chances and it paid off as they were clearly tired.”

The defeat against the Gulf state has put Malaysia in an uphill task to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics as Japan and Syria are in the driver’s seat to advance to the next round from Group C.

Nevertheless, Malaysia intend to pick up their first point when they play Bahrain at home on Sunday.