Cheng Hoe wants time to prepare his trainees

NATIONAL coach Tan Cheng Hoe needs between 10 and 12 days to prepare his trainees for the remaining three pre-World Cup/Asian Cup matches in the United Arab Emirates in June.

He said this was necessary as the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and Thailand have started preparing for the qualifiers.

Malaysia take on the UAE on June 3, followed by Vietnam (June 11) and Thailand (June 15).

“It will be good if we can have 10 to 12 days of preparations ahead of our trip to the UAE.

“We will also have to arrange warm-up matches. It will be different this time as we will be playing all three matches in the UAE.

“We need to be there or a country where the climate is similar to the UAE’s. We will also need time to adapt to the weather there,” he said yesterday.

June is the hottest month in the UAE, with temperatures reaching as high as 40 degrees Celsius, especially in Abu Dhabi.

The coach, however, does not see it as a hindrance. What bothers Cheng Hoe, though, is the ongoing M-League.

Several M-League matches are scheduled at the end of May, thus preventing him from calling up his players much earlier.

However, the FA of Malaysia (FAM) have presented a proposal to the Malaysian Football League (MFL) to postpone M-League matches scheduled after Hari Raya.

“It will be really good if FAM’s proposal is accepted,” Cheng Hoe added.

The national trainees had gathered for a short training stint last month in Johor Baru for the first time after more than a year.

Malaysia have nine points from five matches in Group G, two points behind leaders Vietnam, while Thailand are third on eight, followed by the UAE (seven points from four matches) and Indonesia (no points).