Malaysia advanced to the second round of the Asian Zone Olympic qualifiers with a 2-0 aggregate win over Pakistan after a goalless draw in Lahore, Wednesday.
Malaysia’s Olympic squad defeated Pakistan 2-0 in the first match on Feb 23 at the Shah Alam Stadium and Wednesday the youngsters did well to hold the host team to a 0-0 draw, which was more than enough to send the team to the second round.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) will conduct the draw on Mar 30 to determine the fixtures for the second round where the winners of the first round will have to face seeded teams.
The second round matches will be on a home and away basis and are scheduled to be played on June 19 and 23 with the winners advancing to the third round which will have 12 teams that will be divided into three groups. The winners of the groups qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.
Malaysia last qualified for the Moscow Olympics in 1980 but did not play because of a boycott of the Games as a result of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.
In Wednesday’s match, Malaysian Head Coach, Ong Kim Swee left out striker Ahmad Shakir Ali and brought in Gary Steven Robbat as an extra man in midfield. By doing so, Kim Swee opted for a more conservative approach for the second leg.
The move paid off and Malaysia held on to the 2-0 first leg win to advance on a 2-0 aggregate.
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