Harimau Malaysia head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee believes that more friendly matches in the upcoming months will be key for his team to go all the way in the AFF Suzuki Cup.
The national football team will be facing Indonesia, who will be returning to action after being banned by the International Federation of Association (FIFA), on September 6. This may be the nation’s first official match after not participating in international matches for one year.
The Football Association of Indonesia (PSSI) was suspended with immediate effect in May last year because the Indonesian government took control of the footballing activities in the country, which directly violated Article 17 of the FIFA Statutes, which says that a football association shall manage its affairs independently and with no influence from third parties.
Ong Kim Swee admitted that it will be difficult to plan ahead for the Indonesia match.
“They will be hard to judge after not playing for a year,” Ong Kim Swee told Stadium Astro.
“However, we do not need to worry about that for now because we must divert our full attention solely for the preparations of the Singapore and Afghanistan friendly matches.
“These three matches will be important to prepare us for the upcoming Suzuki Cup.”
Malaysia will travel to the Singapore National Stadium to face Singapore on October 7, before hosting 156th-ranked Afghanistan at the Shah Alam Stadium on October 11.
The national team just completed their Tour of Oceania, where they lost 2-0 against Papua New Guinea, won New Caledonia 2-1 and drew 1-1 with Fiji in the final match on Sunday.
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