PETALING JAYA: Lee Kang-in (pic) is a name to be feared. As a teen, he played for Valencia in the La Liga and is now a playmaker with a penchant for mazy runs and crisp passes with Real Mallorca.
And the 21-year-old will be only one of the intimidating figures the Harimau Muda will face in the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup.
Besides the lad who played for Valencia from 2018 to 2021, the Koreans also have striker Jeong Sang-bin (Grasshopper, Switzerland), midfielder Hong Hyun-seok (LASK Linz, Austria), and playmaker Cho Young-wook (Seoul, South Korea).
They are coached by former South Korean striker Hwang Sun-hong, who played a massive role in helping South Korea finish fourth in the 2002 World Cup.
It will be as fearsome as it gets when the Malaysia Under-23 boys take on the Koreans in their Group C opener at the Lokomotiv Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Thursday.
Malaysia’s coach Brad Maloney will need his boys to be focused and tactically disciplined when taking on the defending champions.
One of his defenders, Ahmad Zikri Khalili, knows that one of the main tasks is to ensure that Kang-in is not allowed much freedom upfront.
The other South Koreans are dangerous, too, so his teammates must ensure they can grasp Maloney’s tactics on matchday.
“They have players based overseas in the squad, and we know they are coming here with the reputation of being defending champions,” said Ahmad Zikri who stands 1.74m tall.
“For us to counter their threat, we just have to follow coach Brad’s tactics and see where that takes us,” said the 19-year-old, who is expected to be paired alongside Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar and Azrin Afiq Rusmini in a three-man defence.
Zikri, who plays for Selangor, was initially a leftback, but has been played as a centreback since last year by Maloney. He seems to have grown into that role.
“In AMD (Akademi Mokhtar Dahari), I played in various positions, so there was no issue when asked to play as a centreback. I have good chemistry with Harith and Azrin because we have all played together since AMD. Even in Selangor, we train and play together,” said Zikri.
“In Uzbekistan, the weather is okay. We just have to adapt to the field in the stadiums.”
Malaysia’s other Group C games are against Thailand (June 5) and Vietnam (June 8).The top two from the four groups will qualify for the quarter-finals.
