Soccer, Sailing Contingents First To Leave For Guangzhou

SEPANG, Nov 5 (Bernama) -- Forty-eight players and officials from the soccer and sailing teams were the first in the Malaysian contingent to leave for Guangzhou Friday to compete in the 16-day Asian Games beginning on Nov 12.

Among them were national football chief coach K. Rajagobal and players K. Gurusamy and S. Chanturu who had to "sacrifice" their Deepavali celebration for the Games.

They believed that although they had to celebrate the festival in a foreign country, it would not hamper them from doing their best for Malaysia at the Games.

For Gurusamy and Chanturu, this was not their first time celebrating Deepavali outside the country as they had a similar experience when they were with the Harimau Muda squad on a training stint in Slovakia last year.

When asked about the national squad, Rajagobal said despite being young players, he believed they could still provide a strong challenge to the other teams.

"Based on the players' present performance, I am confident they are fully prepared for the Asian games. If there is any shortcoming, we will try to improve on it," he told Bernama at the KL International Airport here.

In the early stage of the game, Malaysia which had been chosen to be in Group A, will meet Kyrgyzstan in the first game on Monday and followed with Japan (Nov 10) and hosts China (Nov 13).

Team captain Norhafiz Zamani Misbah said he and his teammates were all prepared to shoulder the challenge and would be fully focused against Kyrgystan in the first game.

"We will concentrate on tactical training and will follow the coach's instructions. If we win on Monday, it will be a good start and will give us more confidence for the next game," he said.

First choice national goalkeeper for this tournament, Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, said although several senior players were not listed as they were still injured, the squad were still confident of putting up a good display.

-- BERNAMA