Kim Swee won’t take any chances against Timor Leste

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia have been given a favourable draw in the playoff round for the 2019 Asian Cup Finals.

The national team will play against Timor Leste – a team they have not lost to in their last two meetings during the 2018 World Cup Asian qualifying campaign last year. Then, Malaysia drew 1-1 at home before beating them by a solitary goal in the return leg in Dili.

National coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee is not going to take any chances against Timor Leste this time, having previously fielded several naturalised players like former Selangor midfielder Junior Aparecido, who is with Sarawak this season.

“We have to be prepared for Timor Leste although we played against them twice last year.

“The game changes all the time and we will analyse their national team,” said Kim Swee after watching the playoff draw at the AFC House in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

The winner of the playoff (home-andaway), on June 2 and June 7, will advance to the group qualifying stage involving 24 teams divided into six groups next year.

The top two teams from the six groups will then join 12 other automatic qualifiers in the Asian Cup Finals, which will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2019.

The 12 teams who have won automatic berths are UAE, Qatar, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Uzbekistan, Syria, Iraq, Iran and China.

These teams earned automatic tickets based on their ranking in the 2018 World Cup Asian qualifying campaign.

World No. 174 Malaysia’s World Cup campaign ended on a disastrous note – with only four points from a win, a draw and six defeats.

The home match against Timor Leste is likely to be played at the Larkin Stadium in Johor Baru.

The national team will report for centralised training on May 22.