Malaysian fans demand coach replacement after being eliminated from the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship

Malaysian football fans want coach Nafuzi Zain to be fired after the team was eliminated early from the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship taking place in Indonesia.

Malaysian fans want FAM to fire coach Nafuzi Zain - Photo: FAM

On the evening of July 21, U23 Malaysia was held to a 0-0 draw by U23 Indonesia in the final match of Group A of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship. This result helped the home team advance to the semi-finals as group winners.

On the contrary, Malaysia only ranked 3rd and was officially eliminated from the group stage. This humiliating defeat was really hard to accept for the fans of this country.

Especially when coach Nafuzi Zain's team has been given maximum conditions and a long time to prepare for the tournament. They also set their ambition to win the championship before the tournament started.

Witnessing this defeat, many Malaysian fans were extremely angry. They wanted a strong reform in youth football training and especially wanted to fire coach Nafuzi Zain.

Fans flooded the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) homepage to criticize:

“The Malaysian players went into the match with the mission of winning. But they did not take any risks, not even playing with any urgency to find a goal. What kind of football art is Coach Nafuzi showing? FAM should find a new coach, Nafuzi Ball is ridiculous,” shared user Muhammad Afiq Shokri.

Another person also hopes that FAM will quickly find a new coach before the 2025 SEA Games begins: “Please find a new coach for the 2025 SEA Games. This time it failed. Let's make a revolution in the coaching bench.”

The failure at the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship is a blow to Malaysia’s ambition to transform football. If they continue to pursue the policy of mass naturalization without focusing on youth training, this will certainly not be a long-term path.

Watch the full 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Football Championship Mandiri Cup™ on FPT Play, visit http://fptplay.vn

Back to topic

THANH DINH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cdv-malaysia-doi-thay-hlv-sau-khi-bi-loai-khoi-giai-u23-dong-nam-a-2025-20250722095951457.htm