Malaysian newspaper commented when the home team was in the same group with U22 Vietnam at SEA Games

(Dan Tri) - Malaysian newspapers have commented when the country's U22 team was in the same group with U22 Vietnam in men's football at the 33rd SEA Games.

According to the results of the draw for men's football at the 33rd SEA Games, U22 Vietnam is in the same group with U22 Malaysia and U22 Laos. Overall, this is a pretty good group for U22 Vietnam as the two opponents are not too strong.

Vietnamese and Malaysian football teams are in the same group at SEA Games 33 (Photo: BH Online).

Commenting on this group, the New Straits Times (Malaysia) headlined: "Malaysia faces familiar opponents on two international fronts". This newspaper commented: "Although the locations are different, the tournaments are different, but Malaysian football still faces two familiar opponents, Vietnam and Laos, at the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand. At the national team level, these teams are also in the same group in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers.

The match between U22 Vietnam and U22 Malaysia may not have seen much controversy when the two national teams met. In that match, Malaysia won 4-0 against the Vietnamese team but after that, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) was accused by FIFA of falsifying documents of 7 naturalized players.

The U22 Malaysia coach admitted that the team was in a difficult group but this is a good opportunity for young Malaysian players to develop.

The Bharian newspaper wrote: “Malaysian and Vietnamese football are in the same group again”. Commenting on the group with the participation of U22 Malaysia, U22 Vietnam and U22 Laos, the Malaysian newspaper wrote: “U22 Malaysia has fallen into a difficult group with the appearance of U22 Vietnam.

Only the top teams and the best second-placed teams will qualify for the next round, so U22 Malaysia will have to compete fiercely with U22 Vietnam. Meanwhile, U22 Laos also has the potential to cause a surprise. It should be noted that at the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia, U22 Malaysia could not qualify for the group stage. The last time Malaysian football won the SEA Games was in 2011.

Malaysian press hopes the match between U22 Vietnam and U22 Malaysia will not be as controversial as when the two national teams met (Photo: VFF).

Meanwhile, Harian Metro headlined: “Malaysia U22’s tough challenge at SEA Games”. The author admitted: “Malaysia U22 must face a huge challenge from Vietnam U22 in the group stage of SEA Games 33. Coach Nafuzi Zain must come up with a plan to defeat this opponent if he wants to help Malaysia U22 qualify for the semi-finals”.

“U22 Malaysia faces challenges from U22 Vietnam and Laos at SEA Games”, that was the headline that appeared in Manka Bola. This newspaper called U22 Vietnam “a fateful rival” of U22 Malaysia. Coach Nafuzi Zain needs to win against U22 Vietnam to help fans forget that U22 Malaysia could not qualify for the U23 Asian tournament.

The men's football tournament is scheduled to take place from December 3 to December 18. The group stage will be held in two locations: Songkhla and Chiang Mai. From the semi-finals onwards, matches will be held at Rajamangala Stadium (Bangkok, Thailand). The men's football tournament requires teams to use an U22 squad (players born from January 1, 2003 onwards) and there will be no slots for overage players.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bao-malaysia-binh-luan-khi-doi-nha-cung-bang-voi-u22-viet-nam-o-sea-games-20251019180102242.htm