FOOTBALL fans will be treated to a dash of English-flavoured football when Malaysia open their Intercontinental Cup campaign against Ireland on May 15.

While Ireland are set to parade Sunderland striker Anthony Stokes, who has three senior caps to his name, and Charlton Athletic and Ireland 'B' goalkeeper Darren Randolph, Malaysia will count on the experience which Bunyamin Umar and Baddrol Bakhtiar gained during a brief training stint with Chelsea recently.

UPB-MyTeam's Bunyamin, however, admits the nine-day stint with Chelsea is not nearly enough to overcome the likes of Ireland, Iraq and Nigeria in Group B.

"Obviously training for nine days with Chelsea is barely enough for an international tournament of such high standard. But my teammates and I will still have to give it our best and must not succumb to our opponents' bigger reputation," said the midfielder after the launch of Nike's new Total 90 Laser II boots in conjunction with the Euro 2008 championships in Bukit Kiara yesterday.

Bunyamin said he would at least have an idea of how Ireland are likely to play when the two teams meet at the MBPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya.
"There is not much difference in the style of play of Irish and English players, so maybe my experience in England could still come in handy. They will probably employ a fast-paced game plan and use their height advantage with the long balls, so we must be on our toes to guard against that danger."

Malaysia suffered a blow when striker Safee Sali and defender Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak were ruled out of the tournament through injury with coach B. Sathianathan considering drafting in two more players as replacements.

Meanwhile, Chile have replaced Argentina in Group A, which also includes Australia, Croatia and Ghana, after the Argentines withdrew due to internal problems plaguing their domestic game.