Resilient Malaysia pleases Kim

Head coach Kim Pan-gon described Malaysia’s 2-2 draw with Syria in an international friendly match on Monday as a morale booster heading into the AFC Asian Cup Qatar.Having taken the lead just before half-time, World No 130 Malaysia found themselves pegged back by Syria with the Southeast Asian side then salvaging a share of the spoils through Paulo Josue’s effort 12 minutes from time at Al Arabi Sports Club."Good start and we competed against a team ranked 91,” said Kim. "Very good performance in the first half. We changed a lot (of players) in the second half because we wanted to give everyone minutes. I’m happy that we came back to finish 2-2 and even had chances to win late on so the players should gain confidence and match fitness ahead of the Jordan game. We will assess everything to find the best 11 for the first game.”Johor Darul Ta’zim star Arif Aiman put Malaysia ahead six minutes before half-time but Syria roared back with two goals in four minutes through Pablo Sabbag (70th) and Ibrahim Hesar (74th). Despite having made wholesale changes in the second half, Malaysia managed to peg Syria back late on with Josue scoring with a crackling strike in the 78th minute. Returning to the AFC Asian Cup stage after 16 years, Malaysia will kick-off their Group E campaign against Jordan on January 16 with Bahrain (January 20) and South Korea (January 25) to follow.The South Korean expects senior players like Brendan Gan, Paulo Josue, Endrick dos Santos, and Junior Eldstal to bring stability and maturity to the team. "In the last competition, we learned not to be overconfident. This preparation is important. We will be playing top teams, not weak teams, in the Asian Cup,” said Pan Gon recently.Hector Cuper’s Syria are in Group B and will take on Uzbekistan in their opening match on Jan 14. They play Australia four days later and India on Jan 23.