Malaysian coach praises U.23 Vietnam as top championship candidate, but… 'we will win'

Malaysian coach recalls 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 Championship

In the post-match press conference, Malaysia coach Nafuzi Zain shared: "First of all, I want to congratulate my players for winning after a great performance. They fought and did not give up until the last minute. I am very satisfied. Some players are still busy playing for their clubs so they have not participated in this match. 4 players are about to arrive, 1 player has a fever. We hope to still try to fight to get a ticket to the semi-finals."

HLV Malaysia ngợi khen U.23 Việt Nam là ứng viên vô địch hàng đầu, nhưng… ‘chúng tôi sẽ thắng’- Ảnh 1. — Coach Zain highly appreciates the Vietnam U.23 team

Mr. Zain said that the U.23 Malaysia team had encountered many difficulties in preparing for the 33rd SEA Games, so the victory made him happy. He said: "The players were busy competing in the National Championship, so we did not have much time to practice. Before that, we did not play well in the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament as well as the U.23 Asian qualifiers. But today, the students overcame the challenge and I am very proud."

On December 11, the U.23 Malaysia team will face U.23 Vietnam in the final match of the group stage. Mr. Zain gave his assessment: "I watched the match between U.23 Vietnam and Laos. U.23 Vietnam is the 2025 Southeast Asian champion, of course they are very, very strong. U.23 Vietnam has healthy, fast, and mature players. Vietnam is always a top candidate for the championship. Therefore, we need to try to prepare well. We are not allowed to lose, that is the most important thing. We will try our best to win."

What did coach Ha Hyeok-jun say about U.23 Vietnam and Malaysia?

U.23 Laos played both matches in the group stage of SEA Games 33. They lost 1-2 to U.23 Vietnam and continued to lose 1-4 to U.23 Malaysia. Coach Ha Hyeok-jun commented: "Looking at the score, it seems that Malaysia is stronger. But we need to look at other things. When meeting U.23 Malaysia, we just met U.23 Vietnam 3 days ago, so judging based on the score will not be accurate. To know who is stronger, we need to wait for the two teams to face each other. It will be an interesting match."

HLV Malaysia ngợi khen U.23 Việt Nam là ứng viên vô địch hàng đầu, nhưng… ‘chúng tôi sẽ thắng’- Ảnh 2. — Coach Ha Hyeok-jun is not too sad. He understands that Lao football is still weak compared to other countries in the region.

The Korean coach further explained the defeat of U.23 Laos: "We still lack many factors to be able to win such as tactics and physical strength. We need to improve many more things. The stronger team won. There are many reasons why Laos keeps losing like that. First, the domestic national championship needs to be strong, so we have a basis to choose good players. The Lao national championship is very weak. The players have tried their best, tried to follow the tactics, but their physical strength is weak, when their physical strength is low, everything is no longer according to plan".

Sad day for Laos U.23 team

After two consecutive defeats, the U.23 Laos team officially said goodbye to SEA Games 33 early. When the final whistle blew, Latsachak Okham burst into tears, forcing his teammates to continuously comfort and encourage him.

HLV Malaysia ngợi khen U.23 Việt Nam là ứng viên vô địch hàng đầu, nhưng… ‘chúng tôi sẽ thắng’- Ảnh 3. — Okham's Sad Failure

Not stopping there, bad news came to coach Ha Hyeok-jun when Somsanid Phetdavanh broke his leg. The captain of the U.23 Laos team was injured after a collision in the middle of the field in the second half. The players who witnessed this injury held their heads in panic. After 15 minutes of first aid, Somsanid was taken straight to the hospital.

Malaysian coach recalls 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 Championship

What did coach Ha Hyeok-jun say about U.23 Vietnam and Malaysia?

Sad day for Laos U.23 team

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U.23 Vietnam vs U.23 Malaysia - SEA Games 33

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