Cheng Hoe to use friendlies to decide on first 11 for real in Dubai

KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 -- Harimau Malaya head coach Tan Cheng Hoe hopes tonight's friendly against Kuwait will give him an idea on his best starting 11 for next month's 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup qualifiers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Admitting to being still unsure of his starting line-up, Cheng Hoe said that since his men have not played in any competitive international matches for a long time, he would have to pay more attention to other factors, such as their fitness and performance levels during the friendlies against Kuwait tonight and Bahrain on May 28 ahead of the crucial qualifiers in Dubai.

"We are still looking for our best starting 11 and I feel that by fielding several combinations tonight (against Kuwait) I will have a rough idea for our opening qualifying match against the UAE,” he said in a virtual media conference today.

Cheng Hoe also seemed happy with the commitment shown by his men in training and assured all his 25 players that everyone would be given a chance to play in the two friendlies so as to get back into the groove and help him work out his best starting line-up for the real deal in the Dubai qualifiers.

The former Kedah coach was also confident that the newcomers called up to the team, such as Liridon Krasniqi (Newcastle Jets), Luqman Hakim Shamsudin (KV Kortrijk) as well as Guilherme De Paula and Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi from Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT), would be able to gel with the other players in the two friendlies before their opening Group G qualifying match against the UAE on June 3.

Malaysia will wrap up their Group G fixtures by taking on Vietnam on June 11 and Thailand on June 15.

-- BERNAMA