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Football: Malaysia to face Pakistan in opener

MALAYSIA have been pitted against Pakistan in the first round of the 2012 Olympic football Asian qualifying tournament following the draw in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. It will be the first meeting between the two countries at Olympic level with the first leg to be played in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 23 next year and the return leg in Pakistan on March 9.

The tie is one that the national youth team will fancy winning in order to advance to the second knockout round on June 19 and June 23 where Asia's 13 highest ranked teams will join the 11 winners from round 1.

The 12 winners from the second round will be drawn into three groups of four teams each, playing six matches from Sept 21, 2011 to March 14, 2012.
The top team in each group will automatically earn a place in the 2012 London Olympics while the runners-up in each group will then compete in a round-robin playoff group at a neutral venue.

The playoff winners will advance to another playoff against the fourth-ranked African team for a berth at London 2012.

Malaysia first qualified for the 1972 Munich Olympics then boycotted the 1980 Games in Moscow and have never made it back to the Olympics since.

In the qualifiers for the last Olympics in Beijing, Malaysia finished third in the first group stage behind Japan and Syria but ahead of Hong Kong


Read more: Football: Malaysia to face Pakistan in opener NST/

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