Malaysian fans expressed bitter feelings after their team's defeat against Vietnam U22.

Vietnam U22 defeated Malaysia U22, proudly advancing to the semi-finals of the SEA Games 33.

"The U22 Vietnam team played against Malaysia like Barcelona playing high-intensity tiki-taka. When Malaysia faces Vietnam, there's no question about it; they're definitely going to lose. Just look at our head-to-head record from 1980 to the present at all national team levels – we've always lost."

"After winning 4-0, they were embroiled in a scandal involving fraudulent player naturalization," commented Dilley Reels of Malaysia on the Football Association of Malaysia website after witnessing the 0-2 defeat of the Malaysian U22 team against the Vietnamese U22 team in the final match of Group C of the men's football tournament at the 33rd SEA Games at Rajamangala Stadium (Thailand) on December 11th.

Despite defeating U22 Laos 4-1 in their opening group stage match and securing first place in Group C, the U22 Malaysia players appeared inferior when facing U22 Vietnam in the final match.

In just two minutes, from the 11th to the 13th minute, the Malaysian U22 team conceded two goals, allowing Hieu Minh and Minh Phuc to have scoring opportunities inside the penalty area. Despite conceding, the "Malayan Tigers" were unable to change the course of the match against the strong play of the Vietnamese U22 team and accepted a 0-2 defeat.

This defeat puts the U22 Malaysia team at risk of being eliminated from the SEA Games in the group stage, despite currently being the best second-placed team in the three groups vying for qualification.

The reason is that in the final matchday, if U22 Indonesia wins against U22 Myanmar by a margin of 3 goals or more, or conversely, if Myanmar wins against Indonesia by a margin of 4 goals or more, one of the two teams will qualify for the semi-finals.

Witnessing their team's defeat, many Malaysian fans expressed their disappointment, even calling for coach Nafuzi Zain to resign.

"Coach Nafuzi Zain should resign after this bitter defeat. The style of play was so weak, with no decent attacking moves," criticized user Izzul Qusyairi.

"I'm very upset to see Nafuzi Zain as a coach; he looks so weak. When will this end, where every time we have to hope other teams don't qualify for the knockout rounds at the SEA Games?" added user MoHd AmEr.

"We were completely outmatched by Vietnam. The problem is that Malaysia always struggles against opponents playing 5-4-1 or 5-3-2 formations. There are many ideas for controlling the ball, but the players are too slow. There's a lack of support and cover for each other."

"The other half of the pitch for the Malaysian U22 team wasn't good enough. In fact, our quality is still far behind compared to Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, or Indonesia at the U22 level," commented user Saiful Saizri.

"This is the level of young Malaysian players. It's sad, but we have to accept the reality," commented user Mohamad Edzhan Adnan.

"It's okay, losing is good for the players and the whole team. We came to the SEA Games to learn from experience. Maybe we can pack our bags tonight. We'll be able to go home after dawn," Suihani Abdulhamid commented sarcastically.

"This is a showdown between a Malaysian coach and a Vietnamese coach. Clearly, Vietnam is stronger in terms of tactics and mentality. They are well-suited to the South Korean coach, who is known for his fast-paced and dynamic style of play."

"Perhaps the Football Association of Malaysia should look for coaches from South Korea or Japan to develop youth football, preparing for the long-term future," concluded user Mohd Zubir Khalid.

Watch SEA Games 33, stand alongside the Vietnamese Sports Delegation, in its entirety onFPT Play, at: http://fptplay.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/cdv-malaysia-noi-dieu-cay-dang-sau-that-bai-cua-doi-nha-truoc-u22-viet-nam-20251211234610684.htm