With the start of the AFF Suzuki Cup less than two weeks away, Malaysia head coach Dollah Salleh is calling on his team to produce their best performance in the international friendly against Syria at the Shah Alam Stadium on Wednesday.
The Harimau Malaya squad shifted from Johor to Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday ahead of their tune-up against the strong West Asian side.
According to Dollah, the match will tell him how ready his team are for the Southeast Asian tournament, co-hosted by Singapore and Vietnam, from Nov. 22.
Their first match is against Myanmar at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore on Nov. 23. The 2010 champions will also face Thailand and Singapore in Group B, with two of the nations advancing to the knockout stages.
"I hope we will be able to give a fight to Syria," said Salleh. "We are aware that the technical level of the West Asian teams is on par with Europe."
Malaysia's group B rivals in the ASEAN showpiece event, Singapore, were beaten 2-0 by fancied Bahrain in Manama on Friday.
The Malaysian national team have been on a week-long stint in Johor to prepare for the Suzuki Cup. The squad played a practice match against the Johor President Cup team at Kluang Stadium on Monday.
Salleh said that training and playing on the artificial pitch at Kluang Stadium would prepare the players to for the similar surface at the Jalan Besar Stadium, where Malaysia have two of their three group matches.
He said that the squad was fit and in top physical condition. According to Dollah, the minor injuries sustained by Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak, Safiq Rahim and R. Gopinathan are not serious.