KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — The Malaysian men’s football team face an uphill task to meet their target of qualifying for the final after being drawn in the ‘Group of Death’ for the 32nd SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia from May 5-17.

The national team, under head coach E. Elavarasan, have been drawn with defending champions Vietnam, record 16-time champions Thailand, Singapore and Laos in Group B.

Group A comprises hosts Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Timor Leste.

It looks like Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand will be slogging it out for the top two spots to advance to the quarter-finals from Group B judging by the fact that these three teams managed to get into the knockout rounds at the previous edition in Hanoi, Vietnam.

In the previous edition, Malaysia lost 1-0 to Vietnam in the semi-finals before the home team edged Thailand, also 1-0, in the final to defend the gold medal they won in the 2019 edition in the Philippines.

Malaysia, who were then coached by Brad Maloney, failed to bring home the bronze medal when they lost 4-3 to Indonesia on penalties (after both teams were tied 1-1) in the third-fourth placing playoff.

Malaysia last clinched the men’s football gold in the 2011 edition in Jakarta, Indonesia after defeating the hosts 4-3 on penalties (after being tied at 1-1 after extra time) but failed to repeat the feat when they fell 1-0 to Thailand in the final of the 2017 edition in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, in the women’s category for the Cambodia SEA Games, Malaysia have been drawn with the Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia and defending champions Vietnam in Group A while Group B consists of Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore and Laos.

The Malaysian women’s team’s best achievement was winning silver in the 1995 edition in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The Malaysian women’s team did not compete in the previous edition. — Bernama