Christopher to coach Osmera: Carry on doing the good work

PETALING JAYA: Osmera Omaro and his coaching team will continue to lead the Malaysian team for the AFC Under-17 Asian Cup 2023 tournament.

Team manager A. Christopher Raj (pic) said they would be given their appointment letters to lead the side after the FA of Malaysia (FAM) exco meeting on Friday.

Malaysia qualified for the Asian Cup after topping Group B with 10 points.

It will be Malaysia’s sixth appearance in the Under-17 Asian Cup after outings in 2004, 2008, 2014, 2016 and 2018. Their best finish was in 2014 when they qualified for the quarter-finals.

This year they started their campaign with a 4-0 win over Palestine (Oct 1). They drew 1-1 with Guam (Oct 5) and edged the United Arab Emirates 3-2 (Oct 7). They finished the qualifier with a 5-1 rout of Indonesia on Sunday.

Osmera’s appointment with the team would be valid until Oct 30 but Christopher said he and his team could continue to train the squad.

“The work we have done to achieve this is a lot. We want this synergy to continue and we will make sure it continues in the Asian Cup. For the qualifying campaign, I saw the amount of preparation done by them, it is immense,” he said. “To prepare for the Asian Cup, we are planning to have three training camps, hopefully in Middle East countries and also East Asian nations like South Korea and Japan.

“The boys need high level exposure now because the Asian Cup will not be easy. We could be facing top nations like Japan, South Korea and Iran. We will make sure to plan things thoroughly for the boys.”