IN two days, Malaysia will start their campaign in the AFC Under-23 qualifiers in Mongolia.
The biennial competition also serves as an Olympic qualifiers. The first step of the long and arduous journey to 2024 Paris begins in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar.
Malaysia have participated in the Asian Under-23 since its inception in 2013, and their best result was reaching the quarter-finals in 2018.
Leading the national team this time is Australian Brad Maloney, but Ong Kim Swee is the man most well-versed with the Asian Under-23, having coached Malaysia in three of the last four editions of the competition.
Kim Swee's first outing was in 2013, Malaysia finished third in the qualifying round in Myanmar.
Striker Rozaimi Abdul Rahman was the standout pe
However, the competition was marred by controversy, as Myanmar who finished second in the group behind South Korea, were alleged to have fielded overage players.
Malaysia's hopes of advancing were dashed by Myanmar who won 2-1.
Earlier, Kim Swee's boys went down 3-2 to South Korea.
Sadly, Rozaimi's football career was dealt a cruel blow by a horrific road accident in 2015. His cousin died and he suffered serious injuries.
The talented striker was never the same again after recovering from his injuries.
He was released by Kedah in August after only eight months with the Red Eagles.
"We had a good team in 2013, and we were not too far off behind Korea and hosts Myanmar.
"We were just unlucky. There were also allegations of age fraud (by Myanmar) but it's hard to prove," said Kim Swee.
"Even age test by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is only accurate until the age of 17. So, for Under-23 players, it's of no use.
"AFC or Fifa could not do anything if the FA provide documents that falsify players' ages as it's an official document."
The second edition of the AFC Under-23 qualifiers in 2016 saw Malaysia finishing third in their group behind Japan and Vietnam.
It was disappointing for Malaysia despite the home advantage of the Shah Alam Stadium.
The team, under coach Razip Ismail, could only record a win over minnows Macau, and suffered losses to Japan and Vietnam. Malaysia scored three goals and conceded just as many.
In 2018, Kim Swee was back again to lead Malaysia for the third edition in Bangkok. And this time, it was a success story for him.
Kim Swee's team topped their group and qualified for the tournament proper in China. And Malaysia went on to create history by reaching the quarter-finals.
In Bangkok, the Young Tigers beat Indonesia 3-0, lost 3-0 to Thailand before bouncing back to beat Mongolia 2-0.
In the tournament proper in China, Malaysia finished second in their group after a 4-1 loss to Iraq, 1-1 draw with Jordan and a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia.
Malaysia advanced to the quarter-finals as the group runners-up but their march ended with a 2-1 defeat by South Korea.
Safawi Rasid and N. Thanabalan were Malaysia's standout players in the campaign.
Safawi scored two goals and Thanabalan had one, and in the qualifiers in Bangkok, he scored twice.
However, it was not always smooth sailing for Kim Swee as some M-League teams did not help his cause in refusing to release players for national assignments.
Kim Swee couldn't do much about it, as clubs were not obligated to release their players for age group competitions, unlike Fifa international windows for national senior teams.
Kim Swee hopes to see changes in Fifa's policies.
"Age group competitions should be under Fifa's match calendar, so that teams must let their players join their national assignments," he said.
"National youth teams won't have much competition internationally besides domestic youth leagues or competitions. It's just not enough for the players' progress.
"I believe it's best that youth teams use the existing Fifa match days to play competitions or friendlies."
"Youth teams are often neglected in the smaller nations due to the nature of their domestic leagues.
"Clubs in Europe have proper academies and competitive youth leagues. Their young players tend to get more matches and get fast-tracked to the senior team.
"If the national youth teams can be assembled frequently, it will be beneficial for the players as they will get to play as a team."
Malaysia failed to qualify for the Under-23 Asian Cup last year after finishing second in their group in the qualifiers in Shah Alam.
Again, the Shah Alam Stadium had no happy memories for the home team.
Malaysia beat the Philippines 3-0, Laos 1-0 and was held to a 2-2 draw by China.
Midfielder Akhyar Rashid was the best performer in the Malaysian team with two goals.
The hosts finished second on goal difference behind China.
All these years, Malaysia had unveiled bright youth players at AFC Under-23 tournaments, but more often than not, they lost their shine eventually.
They never went on to become major stars for Malaysia at senior level, or enhance the quality of the national team.
On this matter, Kim Swee said the players tend to take it easy and stop working hard once they think that they are somebody.
"Players need to think carefully of their future and plan their career pathway. Things are going to be different once they move to senior level, " said the 50-year-old coach.
"If you are not working harder at senior level, there will be someone who replaces you, so you need to keep fighting. Young players need to always keep this in their minds."