KUALA LUMPUR: Young Tigers hope to redeem their battered pride with a podium finish in the Junior Asia Cup (JAC) in Muscat, Oman, from Nov 26- Dec 4.
Coach I. Vickneswaran's team finished sixth and last in the recent Under-21 Sultan of Johor Cup (SoJC) after losing all their matches.
Young Tigers need to finish in the top six out of 10 teams in Muscat to qualify for next year's Junior World Cup in India.
In the JAC, Malaysia are drawn in Group B with Pakistan, China, Bangladesh and hosts Oman. Defending champions India, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Taiwan are in Group A.
Young Tigers defender Andywalfian Jeffrynus said that they let the fans down in the SoJC.
"The SoJC was our first tournament after we started training in May. We want to bounce back and play much better in the Junior Asia Cup.
"We want to defy the odds and finish on the podium. It will be tough but nothing is impossible," said the Sabahan who will be playing in his second JAC.
In the SoJC, Young Tigers lost 3-2 to New Zealand, 4-1 to Japan, 4-2 to India, 2-1 to Great Britain and 9-3 to Australia. In the playoff for fifth placing, Malaysia lost 3-0 to Japan in a penalty shootout after a 2-2 draw in regulation time.
"We had a poor outing in the SoJC due to poor defending, poor finishing and our penalty corners executions were not working.
"But we will rectify all our shortcomings in the next three weeks of training," said Andywalfian who was a member of the Malaysian team that won gold in the Phnom Penh Sea Games last year.
Andywalfian said Pakistan will pose a threat to them, but he has no knowledge about the strength of China who last played in the JAC in Kuantan in 2015.
"We should not have any problem against Bangladesh and Oman in our group matches," said Andywalfian.
At last year's JAC in Salalah, Oman, Malaysia finished fourth behind India, Pakistan and South Korea.