Malaysia coach makes a strong statement when facing U22 Vietnam at SEA Games

On the eve of the 33rd SEA Games, U22 Malaysia faced numerous difficulties. They were almost abandoned by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). The reason was because FAM was busy pursuing the appeal with FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) so they could not pay attention to U22 Malaysia.

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U22 Malaysia was not well prepared before the 33rd SEA Games (Photo: FAM).

Therefore, coach Nafuzi Zain's team did not have any friendly matches before the SEA Games. Not only that, they also gathered late and did not have good training conditions. The whole team only gathered on November 25 and was expected to go to Thailand on December 5. Not to mention the flooding situation in Thailand that forced U22 Malaysia to constantly change their plans.

“Things did not go according to plan but U22 Malaysia was mentally prepared to deal with any situation,” commented the New Straits Times.

The newspaper quoted coach Nafuzi Zain as saying that the goal of reaching the semi-finals is feasible for U22 Malaysia. He said: “The first match with U22 Laos is extremely important for our goal of advancing. U22 Laos is not easy to play because most of their players are from the national team.

If we win against U22 Laos, U22 Malaysia will be ready for the challenge of U22 Vietnam. We aim to reach the semi-finals of the SEA Games men's football. This goal is completely feasible."

The 25-man squad includes two notable names: defender Muhammad Ubaidullah and striker Alif Izwan. They were part of the national team that won 1-0 against Nepal in the Asian Cup qualifiers last month. Most of the U22 Malaysia players have played in the lower leagues and youth leagues. They have never had experience playing in the Malaysian national championship. Meanwhile, naturalized player Fergus Tierney is still absent because Sabah FC has not agreed to release him.

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U22 Malaysia wants to overcome U22 Vietnam to win a ticket to the semi-finals (Photo: Tien Tuan).

Coach Nafuzi believes that inheriting the force from the Southeast Asian U23 tournament in Jakarta in July will help U22 Malaysia in the context of limited preparation time.

Malaysia won the gold medal in men's football at the 2011 SEA Games in Jakarta, but has faced many difficulties in recent years. At the 2023 SEA Games, the "Young Tigers" only finished third in Group B and could not make it to the semi-finals.

U22 Malaysia will play a friendly match with Police FC (Malaysia) on November 29 before coach Nafuzi finalizes the list of 23 players to participate in the 33rd SEA Games.

Although clubs in the Malaysian national championship are not willing to release their best young talents for the 33rd SEA Games because the tournament is not on the FIFA schedule, coach Nafuzi said he is still ready to adapt.

“We understand it will be difficult to get the club to release the player, but whatever happens, the team will continue to fight,” he said.

Malaysian football expert Richard Scully said that U22 Malaysia should not blame the clubs in the national championship for not releasing their players. He emphasized: “SEA Games is not a tournament under the FIFA competition system. Therefore, the clubs have no obligation to release their players. Not only U22 Malaysia, but other teams in the region also face the same situation. Some teams can summon good players because they negotiate with the clubs.

If U22 Malaysia fails, that is not an excuse for them. Poor preparation, leading to not convincing the clubs to release players, that is our fault."

Malaysia U22 will play the opening match of SEA Games 33 against Laos U22 on December 6. Then, on December 11, they will face Vietnam U22. The top three teams of the three groups along with the best second-placed team will qualify for the semi-finals.

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