KUALA LUMPUR: Despite the disappointment of not qualifying for next year’s Blind Football World Cup, the Malaysian football team do not want to finish last on home soil.
They take on Japan on Sunday at the Tun Razak Hockey Stadium in the fifth-sixth playoff of the IBSA (International Blind Sports Association) Asian Championship.
Yesterday, the Malaysian Blind Tigers squandered a golden opportunity to reach their maiden World Cup when they lost 4-3 to South Korea in their final Group B tie.
A draw would have seen them through to the semi-finals, but the team, led by head coach Sunny Shalesh, failed to capitalise on a 3-1 first half lead, when they conceded three goals in the second half.
Team manager Major Azhari Abdullah said: "The team were really unlucky. They played well but just couldn't seal the match (against Korea).
"It's okay, I kept telling the boys that this is not the end of the world. They took some time to recover but they are alright.
"Now they want to go out there and beat Japan, because they don't want to finish last on home soil."
Japan, in Group A, lost their first match 3-0 to second seeds China, before drawing 2-2 against Thailand.
Kuala Lumpur Asean Para Games (KL2017) champions Thailand will take on top seeds Iran in the semi-final tomorrow while the other last four tie sees South Korea take on China.
All four semi-finalists have already booked their spots in next year's World Cup in Madrid.