A promising start to the joint 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup qualifying campaign raised hopes that Malaysia would be able to advance to the third round of the qualification process for the very first time, but the enforced break due to Covid-19 outbreak, as well as the loss of home-ground advantage put paid to those dreams.
Yet finishing third in the group behind United Arab Emirates and Vietnam, who are both far higher in the FIFA rankings, should not be seen as small feat with perennial Southeast Asian giants Thailand twice being handed defeats by Tan Cheng Hoe's men.
The last edition which was Tan's debut tournament being the head coach saw the team going all the way to the final only to be narrowly ousted by Vietnam and there will be renewed hopes with the players having three more years of experience under their belt.
Drawn in Group B, which is widely seen as the easier of the two groups, Malaysia will once again lock horns with Vietnam and then there's the tasty encounter against Indonesia in the mix as well.
A minimum final appearance would be expected of Tan and his side, with many hoping that the team will be able to match the glory days of 2010.
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