Vietnam U.23's opponent at SEA Games 33 is negligent, Coach Kim Sang-sik plans for the semi-finals

The confirmation by the Malaysian U.23 coach, Nafuzi Zain, that he could not focus on preparing for the 33rd SEA Games at the FIFA Days in November, was criticized as a waste of time and a dereliction of duty. This only helped the Vietnamese U.23 team too much.

U.23 Malaysia withdrew early from SEA Games 33, will U.23 Vietnam easily enter the semi-finals?

"I really don't understand why Nafuzi didn't seize this moment (the FIFA Days period in November). This was the perfect opportunity to call up the players, test them and start shaping the squad for the 33rd SEA Games. Now, precious time is passing," former Malaysian football star Jamal Nasir criticized after hearing that coach Nafuzi Zain admitted that he could not gather the Malaysian U.23 team this time.

U.23 Vietnam (red shirt) will have a clear path to the semi-finals of SEA Games 33, while group stage opponent U.23 Malaysia may give up early due to lack of preparation.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

Mr. Jamal Nasir accused Coach Nafuzi Zain of any excuse, but this was still an act of "negligence" and lack of responsibility, while leading the U.23 Malaysia team to prepare for a major tournament like the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand this coming December and receiving great attention from public opinion.

In particular, in the current context, the U.23 Malaysia team is expected to regain the trust of fans, amid the "illegal" naturalization crisis of this country's football and is being punished by FIFA.

"If we don't focus on training for testing and practice matches this time, how will we know which players are really ready? Nafuzi may have his reasons, but in my opinion as a former player and coach, this is negligence. Even if the clubs do not allow players to join the national team, the national team (U.23 Malaysia) management should be more proactive," Mr. Jamal Nasir emphasized.

"The current FIFA Days period (November 10-18) is suitable for friendly matches, or a training and evaluation session for players. This is not just a matter of the tournament. It is about building a standard, training confident, challenged players, ready to compete, not just participating," Mr. Jamal Nasir added.

Therefore, the fact that coach Nafuzi Zain did not take the initiative and did not propose to gather the U.23 Malaysia team on this occasion shows that this coach is completely passive and does not know what the upcoming plan will be when the men's football matches of the 33rd SEA Games are approaching (starting from December 3).

U.23 Vietnam (center) is competing in China to prepare for SEA Games 33, continuously receiving good news while competitors face many difficulties in the preparation process.

Photo: Dong Nguyen Khang

"SEA Games 33 takes place outside the FIFA Days timeframe, making it difficult for FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) to ask clubs to allow their players to join the national team.

Therefore, this November time frame is considered the best time to organize friendly matches, evaluate reserve players and finalize the final list. But the U.23 Malaysia team is completely inactive, they will not have any friendly matches to prepare before attending the 33rd SEA Games. This is really worrying, even hopeless when coming to the tournament," Mr. Jamal Nasir expressed his concern.

At the 33rd SEA Games, U.23 Malaysia is in Group B with U.23 Vietnam and U.23 Laos. According to the latest schedule, all matches in this group will take place at Tinsulanon Stadium in Songkhla Province, including the opening match between U.23 Laos and U.23 Vietnam on December 4; U.23 Malaysia and U.23 Laos on December 7; and the final match between U.23 Vietnam and U.23 Malaysia on December 11. All matches will take place at 6:30 p.m.

With the current lackluster preparation, U.23 Malaysia is considered to have given up early at the 33rd SEA Games. Meanwhile, opponents like U.23 Vietnam have prepared early and are competing very successfully at the Panda Cup friendly tournament in China, facing strong opponents like U.23 China (won 1-0) and U.23 Uzbekistan (lost 0-1), as well as about to meet U.23 Korea on November 18.

The previous year, U.23 Malaysia also had a disappointing year under coach Nafuzi Zain, when they were eliminated early in the group stage of the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament, and also failed to qualify for the U.23 Asian tournament.

The 33rd SEA Games was seen as the last hope to change the situation, but everything so far shows that Malaysian football may have another bad ending.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-thu-u23-viet-nam-tai-sea-games-33-lo-la-hlv-kim-sang-sik-tinh-ban-ket-185251117100840709.htm