COACH: TARGET CAN BE ACHIEVED

Kim Swee believes his team can make the quarter-finals

NOTHING is impossible in football. With defending champions South Korea, Bahrain and Kyrgyzstan in Group E, Malaysia are expected to face a tall order in achieving their quarter-final target but coach Ong Kim Swee believes his team have the pedigree to go far.

Based on their quarter-final achievement at the AFC Under23 Championship in China in January, Kim Swee’s side are confident they can grab attention once again in Indonesia.

Except for defender Matthew Davies and midfielder Nor Azam Azih, others who played in China Ong Kim Swee putting his players through their paces recently.

are in the squad for the Asian Games.

Kim Swee will only have two seniors in midfielder Baddrol Bakhtiar and defender Rizal Ghazali as centre-back Aidil Zafuan Radzak is recovering from an injury.

Malaysia were initially in a fiveteam group after the first redraw

before the United Arab Emirates were pooled in Group C following a second redraw recently.

Kim Swee’s side will open against Kyrgyzstan on Aug 15 at Si Jalak Harupat Stadium, followed by South Korea (Aug 17) and Bahrain (Aug 20).

On paper, Korea, led by Son Heung-min, are the group favourites with three other teams fighting for the second position.

Only the top two in each group will qualify for the next stage.

Kim Swee’s side showed promise in the 2-1 defeat to China on Sunday in a friendly match and they are expected to play another match on Aug 10 before they leave for Indonesia.