IN their last outing, they won a title at regional level — the Asean Football Federation Under-15.
Today in Vientiane, Laos, P. Maniam’s boys will kick off at a bigger stage — the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-16 Championship qualifiers.
Malaysia are in Group J with Laos, Cambodia and Japan.
The Malaysian boys are going into the competition in a buoyant mood, with the AFF Under-15 title under their belts.
While they are expected to beat Laos and Cambodia, Japan look formidable. In 2018, when Malaysia hosted the AFC U-16 Championship, they lost 2-0 to Japan.
Only the top placed teams from the 12 qualifying groups are guaranteed entry to the finals next year with the four best second placed teams also going through.
While Malaysia meet Cambodia in the AFC group opener today, all eyes will be on their final group tie against Japan (Sept 22).
“Winning the AFF Cup has given the players a lot of confidence and they believe more in themselves now,” said Maniam yesterday.
“But this qualifier is a different game. The opponents know our strengths and weaknesses.
“We will go step-by-step. It’s not just about the strong teams. The weaker teams can also do well and spoil the good teams’ chances.”
Maniam has retained the same batch of players from the team that won the AFF Cup (they beat Thailand 2-1 in the final) for the AFC qualifiers.