BY ZULHILMI ZAINAL Follow on Twitter
After reducing the size of his Malaysia U23 training camp ahead of the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship from 29 to 26 men, the team and head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee departed for South Korea on Saturday night, for the second phase of the training camp.
"I can describe the earlier part of the camp, held in Kelana Jaya as the first phase, while now we'll be heading for the second phase, in South Korea.
"We'll be playing in three friendly matches, and work on a couple of mistakes apparent in the earlier friendly matches. And then in the final phase, in China, we'll have another friendly match," said Ong when met by the press at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Saturday.
In Korea, Ong plans to work on his men's tactics and adaptation to the cold weather.
"I believe my players need time to adapt to the climate, around three or four days. Only then we'll be able to observe their progression, but more importantly they need to stay focused.
"Not just on the weather, but also on our approaches and plans, as well as aspects that we need to improve upon," explained the former Malaysia senior team coach.
The centralised camp will continue in Mokpo, South Korea, before they leave for Nanjing, China for the AFC finals which kick off on January 9.
The Young Tigers have been drawn in Group C in the tournament, alongside Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq.
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