PETALING JAYA, Dec 16 — Under-23 coach Ong Kim Swee had to axe Amierul Hakimi Awang and Sean Eugene Selvaraj before his team of 26 players fly out on the road to the AFC Championship.

Amierul is a goalkeeper from Terengganu FC II while Sean Eugene Selvaraj hails from Selangor. Another player, Danial Ashraf Abdullah from Kelantan, had to be left out due to injury.

"After analysing all the factors, this is the tough decision I need to make. I have to drop out Amierul Hakimi and Sean Eugene to complete the 26-list bound for South Korea,” said Kim Swee yesterday.

Earlier on December 5, the 47-year-old coach was forced to drop Syafiq Ahmad of Kedah due to time constraint as the player could only register late due to his wedding.

Gleaning an insight from Thursday’s friendly against Melaka United, Kim Swee said the team needed one or two effective systems to apply in their matches against Jordan or Saudi Arabia.

"The 26-player list is based on the best combination for our midfields and attacks.

"However we are still unsure as to who our opposing team is for our international friendly in China (Jan 5).

"To me, it doesn’t really matter who the sparring team is, any clubs from China League will do,” said Kim Swee.

After three months of training camps in Kelana Jaya, the Kim Swee boys were packed to leave today for Mokpo in South Korea for a 14-day training camp from December 17. Then they are off to Nanjing in China for eight days of final camp.

The team will be in Changsu on January 6 for two early Group C matches against Iraq (January 10) and Jordan (January 13) before their last match against Saudi Arabia in Kunshan (January 16).

If Malaysia manages to finish top two in Group C, then next will be the quarterfinals (January 20), followed by semifinals (January 23) and final (January 27).