PETALING JAYA, May 29 — National Under-22 squad head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee hopes to add a tinge of Chinese flavour to his SEA Games Project squad to help capture the gold medal at the 29th Kuala Lumpur SEA Games in August.

Kim Swee who led Malaysia to a heroic SEA Games gold medal in the 2011 SEA Games against host Indonesia in a thrilling final, would also be hoping to steer his boys to qualify for the Under-23 2018 Asian Football Confederation Cup in Bangkok.

The 46-year-old coach who will lead the country’s campaign in the SEA Games for the fourth time, since 2011, (Myanmar SEA Games 2013) and (Singapore SEA Games 2015) took over the Project squad from German coach Frank Bernhardt in March would soon lead his charges to China for a series of friendly matches next month.

"Every time I lead the team to the SEA Games, the challenges and expectations are the same. The only difference is that we will be playing at home and the gold medal is the target. Apart from the SEA Games, qualifying for the AFC Cup is also important to ensure the players can raise their game to another level by playing against teams like Japan and South Korea.

"By playing in the Under-23 AFC Cup competition, the players will be exposed to a higher level of competition. Playing against teams with a status will do a world of good for the young players,” he told reporters after a training session at Wisma FAM, here today.

It was the first training session conducted by Kim Swee after taking over from Bernhardt.

After a 10-day centralised training camp at Wisma FAM, the team will head to China for a training cum playing tour against China’s Under-22 squad, Guangzhou R & F reserves and Guangzhou Evergrande reserves from June 6-13.

"We have less than 80 days to prepare for the SEA Games and 40 days before the Under-23 AFC Cup qualifier. Therefore, I may not have the luxury of changing many players,” he said.

In the U-23 AFC 2018 qualifier in Bangkok from July 19-23, Malaysia have been drawn in Group H with host Thailand, Indonesia and Mongolia.

From the 40 teams that will feature in the qualifier, the winners of the 10 groups and five best runner-up teams will qualify for the finals hosted by China. — Bernama