Asian battles begin

IT was a tale of missed chances for the National Juniors in the two Sultan of Johor Cup matches they have played to date and they can't afford any more bungles in their next three ties.
Today, Malaysia will start their Asian campaign against South Korea at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru, with matches against Pakistan and India to follow.
National Juniors coach K. Dharmaraj has said that his charges can't afford to lose to Asian teams as they will be meeting them again in the Junior Asia Cup in Malacca next year, which also doubles up as a Junior World Cup Qualifier.
However, Dharmaraj's players have shown they are masters of the "near misses" thus far in matches against Australia (2-1) and New Zealand (1-1).
"We have had our fair share of chances and misses, but Australia are the favourites here and a 2-1 score against them is not too bad actually," said team manager Mirnawan Nawawi.
And now, according to Mirnawan, the target is to win the remaining three matches and play in the final.
"Playing in the final is still within our reach but we need to win against Korea, India and Pakistan to achieve it," said Minawan.
"It would also be a good boost to beat the three teams ahead of the Junior Asia Cup where we will meet them again for a shot at the Junior World Cup."
Korea are no pushovers, as they came back from trailing India by four goals to win 6-4, and then beat Pakistan 2-1 for maximum points.