Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Al Ain: Coach Ong Kim Swee is well aware Malaysia need a series of favourable results on Wednesday to secure an appearance at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, but first knows his side must beat Yemen in their final outing in Group D.
Malaysia are currently third in Group D, but despite being significantly behind Australia-bound Bahrain and Qatar, last March’s 2-1 home win over Yemen and subsequent draw with Bahrain means the Tigers are still in the hunt for a place at the finals as the best third place finisher across all five groups.
Ong’s side, though, know they must claim all three points at Tahnon Bin Mohamed Stadium while also hoping Iraq fail to beat China in Group C with Syria, Lebanon and Hong Kong also all in contention heading into the final round of fixtures ahead of the March 26 draw in Sydney.
“We will be holding onto our chances to qualify to the finals despite the fact Yemen will be looking to register their first win in the competition,” said Malaysia coach Ong.
“Our target is to win the three points and hopefully the other results will be in our favour.
“We know that our opponents are looking to get a good result after the disappointing results that they had in the qualifiers. Therefore, we will not underestimate them and will give all our best to have another victory.”
Yemen currently prop up the Group D table following five consecutive defeats, but coach Abraham Gebreslassie knows the game can still play an important role in his sides’ development.
“The match is important for us because we want to improve the image of the team despite the fact that we will be playing against a strong team. We lost all our matches but we will try our best to have a good result,” said Yemen Gebreslassie.
“We have new players in the team as 75% of our side is from the U-22 team and hopefully they can prove themselves in the match.
“We want to open a new page for the future and hopefully a good result against Malaysia will be the start of a new era.”
In Doha, 2011 hosts Qatar entertain Bahrain with both sides having already secured qualification for Australia.
And 2011 quarter-finalists Qatar are boosted by the return of defender Bilal Mohamad and striker Abdulqadir Ilyas following recent injuries, although forward Hamid Ismaeil is ruled out through suspension after picking up a second yellow card of the campaign in November’s 1-0 win in Malaysia which secured their qualification for a fourth consecutive AFC Asian Cup.
“We are ready for the match against Bahrain as we are now going through our best phase with good coherence between the players. Our target is to finish at the top of the group and to get the best possible amount of points which will give the players a big morale boost,” said Qatar coach Fahad Thani.
“The players are eager to win the match and there will be no pressure on our players. Therefore, I believe that the players will have good concentration and will be playing to enjoy the match and get a positive result.”
Bahrain had secured their fourth consecutive AFC Asian Cup finals appearance with two games to spare after also beating Malaysia in November 1-0 in November before downing Yemen 2-0 last time out.
And coach Anthony Hudson is boosted by the return of both midfielder Abdulwahab Al Malood from injury and striker Sami Al Husaini from suspension.
“We are going into the match against Qatar with two options as a win or a draw will be enough for us to finish on the top of the group. However, this doesn’t mean that we will not be looking to finish the qualifiers with a victory which will be important for us,” said Bahrain coach Hudson.
“We came to Doha with a lot of desire to get a positive result although the match will be very hard for the two teams. Both sides have proven their strengths and sealed their tickets early and I hope that we can have a good performance that reflects our true level.”
Photo: AFP