KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 — All teams have an equal chance to qualify for the semi-finals of the 2019 Asean Football Federation (AFF) Under 22 (U-22) Football Tournament which will get underway on Monday.
National U-22 head coach, Datuk Ong Kim Swee believes all teams will do their best at the group stage to qualify for the semi-finals.
He said teams like Myanmar, Indonesia and Cambodia have a slight advantage based on their thorough preparations, compared to his side which only had five days of training at the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) pitch in Kelana Jaya.
“I think there is no favourite teams in this group (Group B), but we would want to go as far as we can, but the most important thing is that we want to have a good outing here as our preparation is more towards the 2020 AFC U-23 qualifiers, next month,” Kim Swee told a pre-tournament press conference, here, today.
The audio of the press conference was made available to Bernama.
On the same note, Kim Swee also thanked Cambodia FA who is organising the tournament which suits the preparation of the Asean countries participating in the 2020 AFC U-23 qualifiers, next month.
Sharing his sentiments was Myanmar U-23 head coach, Velizar Popov who ruled out his team has a good chance to qualify for the last four of the tournament which was last held in 2005.
“The teams in this tournament are very competitive, but I believe this tournament is good for our team’s preparation before the AFC U-23 qualifiers,” added Popov who was Kelantan coach in 2016.
In Group B, Malaysia will kick off their campaign against the hosts, Cambodia, followed by Indonesia (February 20) before taking on Myanmar in their last group game, two days later.
Reigning champions, Thailand will lead the challenge in Group A alongside Vietnam, Timor-Leste and Philippines. Three teams namely Singapore, Brunei and Laos have decided to pull out of the tournament.
Based on the tournament format, the top two teams from Group A and B, will qualify for the semi-finals on February 24, while the final will take place, two days later.
All matches will be held at National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. — Bernama
