U22 Malaysia defender confident: "We are not inferior to U22 Vietnam"

(Dan Tri) - The journey to hunt for gold at the 33rd SEA Games of U22 Malaysia started with determination, despite not having the strongest squad. Defender Alif Ahmad believes they are strong enough to compete with Laos and Vietnam.

Arena Metro newspaper said: "The mission to win medals at the 33rd SEA Games officially began when the U22 Malaysia team left for Bangkok (Thailand) on the afternoon of December 3. Although expectations were not too high, fans still hope that U22 Malaysia can create a surprise, especially when it has been 14 years since the last time Malaysian football won a gold medal at the regional sports festival."

U22 Malaysia fell into a difficult group at SEA Games 33, with championship candidate Vietnam and the rapidly improving team U22 Laos (Photo: Arena Metro).

The most recent achievement of the Malaysian men's football team at the SEA Games was the gold medal in 2011 in Jakarta, Indonesia, before the team only won silver at the 2017 SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur. Therefore, coach Nafuzi Zain and his team are shouldering a challenging task: regaining the glory in the context of limited preparation and difficulty in summoning the strongest force.

However, the spirit of U22 Malaysia is still very positive. Defender Muhammad Alif Ahmad believes that U22 Malaysia can absolutely make a mark in Thailand. In his first time participating in the SEA Games, Alif also set a big goal for himself: dreaming of the championship and the prestigious gold medal.

“The preparations are very good. The whole team is focused on the opening match against U22 Laos on December 6. Although the recent warm-up matches were only against local clubs, our goals are always clear and everything is ready for the opening match of the SEA Games. After watching the match between Laos and Vietnam, I believe that we can completely compete and not be inferior to them in terms of tactics,” Alif said at KLIA airport before departure.

The Johor Darul Ta'zim II player added: "My goal is to become a champion. But to do that, we have to go step by step, starting from the group stage and then thinking about the next matches. Right now, the goal is to win against Laos U22 in the opening match of Group B. Laos is not an easy team to play against, but through their match with Vietnam U22, I think we can compete for a ticket to the next round."

U22 Malaysia moved to Thailand on the afternoon of December 3 (Photo: FAM).

After the match against Laos at Rajamangala Stadium, U22 Malaysia will face the biggest challenge in Group B when they face top candidate Vietnam on December 11, also at the same venue.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/hau-ve-u22-malaysia-tu-tin-chung-toi-khong-thua-kem-u22-viet-nam-20251205065335962.htm