SINGAPORE: Malaysia's rare taste of regional football success was rewarded further on Monday when the Southeast Asian nation was named a host for the 2012 AFF Suzuki Cup.

The Malaysians, who won the cup for the first time in December with an upset victory over Indonesia, will share the group stages of the 2012 event with Thailand, organisers the Asean Football Federation (AFF) said.

Dates for the tournament, which is normally played in December, have still to be decided.

Malaysia was a leading regional football power in the 1970s but has since fallen off the radar due to a lack of good players and investment in clubs.

The nation last hosted the Asean Football Championship alongside Vietnam in 2004 while Thailand co-hosted with Indonesia in 2008.

The AFF Suzuki Cup is a biennial football competition contested by the national teams of Southeast Asia.