The Hindu : Sport / Football : Malaysian coach hopeful

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Thursday, Oct 26, 2006
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Malaysian coach hopeful

BANGALORE: Malaysia has five of its key players missing. But coach K. Rajagopal expressed hope that his side would do reasonably well in the AFC Youth Championship, commencing at the Sree Kanteerava stadium here from October 29.

"Five of our key players are missing from the line-up due to injuries, but the replacements have to be suitably fitted into the scheme of things," he said.

Malaysia is grouped along with Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam in pool D. Though midfielders Mohd. Nuralif Zainal Abidin and Adha Abdul Razak will be missed, the return of K. Gurusamy in the midfield and defender Mohd Bunyami Omar from injuries has given the coach a few options.

Malaysia starts its campaign against Vietnam on October 30 and plays Saudi Arabia and Iraq on November 1 and 3.

"The preparation for this championship went off well for two years but in the last few months the injuries to the main players has pulled us back. The two matches, though we lost 0-1 and 1-3 to the Chinese under-20 team, the experience has helped us use our replacements effectively," he said.

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