Courtesy: Bernama


Malaysia Opens Futsal Campaign Against Uzbekistan On Sunday

May 09, 2008

By D. Arul Rajoo

BANGKOK, May 9 (Bernama) -- Three heavy defeats in the run-up to the final round and the exclusion of several players from the SEA Games silver medal winning squad have not deterred Malaysia from trying to qualify for the quarterfinals of the Asian Football Confederation futsal championship which starts here on Sunday.

Coach P. Balakrishnan said he was not perturbed by the 1-8 defeat to Thailand, 2-11 to the Thailand Under-21 and 2-6 to Turkmenistan. Malaysia also beat Kuwait 1-0 in the friendly matches played here.

"I was trying out all the players since we came here a week ago. I have identified the 14 players for the tournament and the core players," he said during a training session at the Hua Mark Stadium here today.

Balakrishan, who guided the national team to a second place in the SEA Games at the same venue in December, said five regulars had to be left out due to difficulties in getting leave or family commitments.

"But we are still aiming to get past the first round. It may not be easy but we have the fighting chance," said Balakrishan who also coached the team in last year's edition in Japan.

Malaysia will open their campaign in the 16-team tournament against last year's bronze medallist Uzbekistan on Sunday, followed by Lebanon on Monday and South Korea a day later.

The top two teams from each of the four groups will make the last eight, with the semi-finals getting automatic berth for FIFA's Futsal World Cup to be held at the end of the year.

Balakrishnan said that Malaysia, who won the qualifying round in Kuala Lumpur last month, would use the tournament to provide good exposure for the team, which has retained nine players from the SEA Games squad.

Team manager Hamidin Mohd Amin said several regulars were left out as they could not get leave from their employers who were reluctant to let them go for a long period.

"Some of the players had to take leave for several weeks to attend training and competition previously. They don't want to jeorpardise their career. Hopefully, we can work out some arrangements in the future," he said.

FINAL SQUAD

S. Devandran, Firdaus Razali, Addie Feroz Abdul Karnim, Ahmad Hanif Sarman, Mohd Fuad Yusof, Zaidi Zulkahpri, Muizzudin Mohd Haris, Mohd Fadzil Abdul Karnim, Ruzaley Abdul Aziz, Hishamuddin Manjur, N. Saravanan Kumar, R. Devanthiran, and Safar Mohamad.




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