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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Malaysia to co-host 2012 Suzuki Cup


Suzuki Cup success brings good news for Malaysia. The Asean Football Federation (AFF) approved the FA of Malaysia (FAM)’s bid to stage one group of the 2012 finals, with Thailand hosting the other group.


The last time Malaysia co-hosted the tournament was eight years ago, when it was known as the Tiger Cup. The decision was announced after the 18th AFF Council meeting in Petaling Jaya, Saturday.
Last year, Malaysia emerged champions for the first time since the inaugural championships was held in 1996. Malaysia defeated Indonesia 4-2 on aggregate in the two-leg semi-final held in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta.
The 2010 tournament was co-hosted by Indonesia and Vietnam.
FAM General Secretary Dato’Azzuddin Ahmad said Malaysia had been due to host the tournament for a while and felt the timing was perfect given the national team's recent victory.
"There are several factors involved when deciding the hosts of the tournament and one is the ranking of the respective countries.
"Malaysia had been third in line after Vietnam and Indonesia to become co-hosts, and since those two countries had stage last year's edition, AFF decided unanimously to approve our bid and also Thailand's for the 2012 tournament.

"We had been left out of the loop for some time now through a combination of our low ranking and the inconsistent performance of the national team.
"But with the national team winning the last tournament, it infused our intention to bid for 2012. This will provide the national team a boost to defend the title on home ground and with the fervent support of Malaysians," said Dato’ Azzuddin.

Malaysia had mixed fortunes in the 2004 tournament, bouncing back from a surprise 1-0 defeat to Myanmar to defeat Thailand 2-1 before going down 4-1 to Indonesia in the semi-finals second leg in Bukit Jalil for a 5-3 aggregate defeat.

The national team, then coached by Hungarian Bertalan Bicskei, finished third after beating Myanmar 2-1 in Singapore.
Thailand hosted the championship in 2006, along with Indonesia.
Dato’ Azzuddin said the venues and dates for the eight-team tournament will be decided later.

(source : fam.org.my)

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