PETALING JAYA: National football coach Kim Pan-gon is pining his hopes on the team to create a surprise by reaching the final of the Merdeka Tournament in October.
The tournament will make a return after a 10-year absence when it kicks off from Oct 13-17 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Malaysia will face world No. 99 India based on the draw made yesterday.
It will be Malaysia’s first meeting against the South Asian giants after 12 years.
World No. 96 Palestine and world No. 100 Lebanon will face off in the other match.
The winners of both matches will face off in the final on Oct 17 while the losers will play for third place.
Although the odds are stacked against Harimau Malaya, Pan-gon hopes the aura of playing at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil will translate into positive results for the national squad.
“India are in a better position at the moment while we are ranked 136th but we will give our opponents a tough fight. We also hope that our team will be lifted by the presence of our fans whom I believe will be there for us.
“I respect India and know they are ranked higher and have also been preparing well since last year.
“We can see their team have improved as they have not lost in any of their matches this year, so it will be a good test for us,” said Pan-gon after the draw ceremony.
The tournament will also be the first event to inaugurate the newly refurbished pitch of National Stadium.
Palestine and Lebanon are also in the same World Cup qualifying group but both teams have informed the Football Association of Malaysia that they have no objections in playing against each other in the tournament.
The tournament was last held in Malaysia in 2013, with the national Under-23 side winning the title in Kuantan.
