Courtesy: The AFC.com


Tough task ahead for Malaysia, says futsal coach

Wednesday, 22 July 2009

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia have a tough task ahead of them, warned national futsal coach P Balakrishnan after his men were slotted Wednesday with Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines in the qualifying draw for the 2010 AFC Futsal Championship.

Malaysia were the last to come out of the pots and found themselves in ASEAN Group B qualifying. The other group comprises Australia, Indonesia, Brunei and Myanmar.

“It is a balanced grouping but some matches will be quite tough,” Balakrishnan (pictured) told the-afc.com.

“Vietnam are improving by the day and we have to be careful. The Philippines could also prove to be a stumbling block.

Balakrishnan said his young side needed as many games as possible before going into top-fight action.

“My team is very young and we need to play a lot of matches against high-ranking teams. This will build our temperament.”

In the other group, Balakrishnan tipped Australia and Indonesia with a good chance of going through.

Malaysia finished third in their group in the 2008 edition in Thailand and failed to progress to the knockout stage.

The South-East Asians have qualified for every edition since the tournament started in 1999.








Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com