KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia defender Daniel Ting believes the national team have enough firepower to compete against the continent’s best teams during the Asian Cup in Doha, Qatar that kicks off this Saturday.
Daniel’s confidence brews from the fact that the Harimau Malaya were able to hold Syria – ranked among the top 100 teams in the world – to a 2-2 draw in a friendly played on Monday.
The 32-year-old said the result had certainly boosted the team’s confidence before facing Jordan in a Group E match on January 16.
“They (Syria-91st) are ranked higher than us (Malaysia-130th) but I think we showed that even though there’s a big gap we can match that level and with that confidence we will be going into the game against Jordan.
“Even though it was a friendly, it was good for us to get some minutes in the legs and get us prepared for the first game to match the fitness and put to test the tactics that we’ve been working on,” he said in a video clip that was shared by the Football Association of Malaysia today.
The player, who has English-Malaysian parentage, said the selection of an identical squad for every tournament by coach Kim Pan-gon truly gives a positive impact to the team because it builds understanding and coordination among the players.
“(The members of the national team are) considered the top players in the country, so of course the level is always going to be higher, and the training is intense, everyone wants to prove something. And again, it’s the best players from each country, so of course the level is going to be up there, so it’s a good test,” he said.
Malaysia, who ended a 42-year wait to qualify for the Asian Cup on merit, are drawn in Group E, and will begin their campaign by playing Jordan on January 16, followed by Bahrain on January 20 and an encounter with two-time champions South Korea on January 25.
Only the top two finishers from each group, along with the four best third-placed teams, will qualify for the round of 16, a stage Malaysia have failed to reach in their three previous appearances.
This marks Malaysia’s fourth participation in the Asian Cup after qualifying on merit in the 1976 edition in Iran and the 1980 edition in Kuwait, as well as hosting the tournament jointly in 2007. – January 10, 2024