Malaysia only calls up 2 naturalized players to compete in the Southeast Asian U23 Tournament

Malaysia only called up 2 naturalized players to prepare for the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship.

Most of the players were selected from Malaysia's "The Elite Games" program - Photo: FAM

On the morning of June 25, coach Nafuzi Zain announced the preliminary list of 30 players of the Malaysian U23 team to prepare for the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship. Notably, this list only includes two naturalized players, Fergus Tierney and Ziad El Basheer.

Tierney (born 2003) has a Scottish father and a Malaysian mother. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland but later moved to Malaysia and grew up there.

This young striker is currently playing for Sabah Club in the Malaysia Super League. Standing at 1.86m tall, Fergus Tierney promises to be a dangerous explosive force for U23 Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Ziad El Basheer (born in 2003) has a Sudanese father and a Malaysian mother, so he is fully eligible to play. Basheer is also playing domestically for Selangor FC.

The list was released after a special and public selection program called "The Elite Games", which lasted 3 days from June 23 to 25.

This program brings together 26 of the best young players for the coaching staff to directly evaluate their abilities through training sessions and an internal match.

It was previously reported that Gabriel Palmero would also be called up. However, he was not included in the final list. In addition to the two naturalized names above, other notable factors such as Haqimi Azim, Ubaidullah Shamsul and Alif Izwan are also present.

Speaking about the selection process, coach Nafuzi Zain expressed his satisfaction to Makan Bola : "I am very satisfied with The Elite Games. I think the program's objectives have been achieved. I have had the opportunity to observe and evaluate the players carefully."

He also added that this program has opened up a fair opportunity for all players. Instead of playing international friendlies, U23 Malaysia focuses on internal competitions to find individuals with the best form and ability.

Preliminary list of 30 players of U23 Malaysia for the tournament - Photo: FAM

This time, the U23 Malaysia squad is built towards rejuvenation and looking towards the future. Most of the players are under 22 years old, qualified to participate in the 2026 U23 Asian qualifiers and the 33rd SEA Games at the end of the year.

This is also the best force that Malaysia can summon at this age, when other experienced naturalized players from Brazil or Argentina are all over the age limit.

According to plan, these 30 players will officially join the team and start a concentrated training session from July 1, before coach Nafuzi Zain finalizes the official list to fly to Indonesia to compete.

At the 2025 U23 Southeast Asia, U23 Malaysia is in Group A with U23 Indonesia, U23 Philippines, U23 Brunei. U23 Vietnam is in Group B with U23 Laos and U23 Cambodia. Group C includes U23 Thailand, U23 Myanmar and U23 Timor Leste.

THANH DINH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/malaysia-chi-goi-2-cau-thu-nhap-tich-dau-giai-u23-dong-nam-a-2025062511592597.htm