KUNSHAN: It will be the national team’s toughest challenge yet in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Championship, as they go up against South Korea in the last eight this Saturday, but coach Ong Kim Swee believes his boys are ready for more giant-killing exploits.
Kim Swee said that going up against the 2016 runners-up at the Kunshan Stadium will be a different prospect for them as his boys faced middle-east opposition in all three of their group C matches.
"This is yet another tough challenge for us as we all know that the Koreans are blessed with players of quality, and it’s not just one or two players, but the entire team as a whole, which makes them a very credibly strong team who also have a lot of international experience at this level.
"Against the Koreans, we will need to be even more disciplined and at the same time show yet again what we have already proved during the group matches that we will fight it out to the final whistle regardless,” he said when met here earlier today.
Malaysia who are featuring in the tournament for the first time pulled off the biggest upset so far when they beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 yesterday to advance to the knockout stage after emerging as runners-up in group C behind Iraq.
Kim Swee has however advised his boys that the pressure is not on them as they are seen as the underdogs.
"We will be preparing as best we can within the few days that we have leading up to the match this weekend. I just hope that our players can recover from the fatigue and any niggling injuries and knocks that they’re carrying. I want the players to be calmer because the Koreans will want to keep their pride and reputation intact,” said Kim Swee.