Malaysia and Iraq to play friendly

The 2007 AFC Asian Cup Champions will play this friendly against Malaysia ahead of their vital AFC Asian Cup 2015 qualifier clash on 6 February 2013.

Iran Football Team: Photo by Amin Mohammad Jamali/Gallo Images/Getty Images

Malaysia will play Qatar in Group D with Baharain and Yemen on 6th of February whereas Iraq will play Indonesia on the same day. Malaysia are also planning for other friendlies ahead of the qualifying campaign.

Iraq, who parted company with their Brazilian Zico have recently appointed Hakeem Shakir as the man in charge and are playing Gulf Cup 2012 in Baharain under him. They are in group C with Saudi Arabia, China and Indonesia and are considered to be the favorites to go past the group.

The top three teams in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 (Japan, Australia and Korea Republic), 2012 AFC Challenge Cup champions DPR Korea and the winners of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup will earn automatic qualification for the event. They will be joined by the top two teams from each group and the best third-placed team among all the groups for the tournament to be held in Australia in 2015.