Very new: The club rescued U.23 Malaysia at the last minute, increasing the heat of the 'big battle' of U.23 Vietnam

Malaysia U.23 has its best squad available to face Vietnam U.23.

U.23 Malaysia has just said goodbye to striker Haqimi Azim because his stepfather suddenly passed away. Meanwhile, midfielder Haziq Kutty Abba also had to leave SEA Games 33 early due to a hamstring injury he suffered in the 4-1 win over U.23 Laos on December 6.

Rất mới: CLB giải cứu U.23 Malaysia giờ chót, tăng sức nóng trận ‘đại chiến’ U.23 Việt Nam- Ảnh 1. — Coach Kim Sang-sik and the Vietnam U23 team must be extremely focused and put in their best effort to defeat Malaysia U23; they cannot afford to be complacent.

However, Harimau Muda also had a significant addition in terms of force when captain defender Ubaidullah Shamsul and goalkeeper Haziq Mukhriz arrived in time to practice on December 7.

But the best news for coach Nafuzi Zain is that his persuasion of Selangor FC has been successful. The top Malaysian club, despite preparing for an important match against Lion City Sailors FC (7:15 PM on December 10th in the AFC Champions League 2), has agreed to let striker Aliff Izwan Yuslan join the Malaysian U23 team.

The player immediately departed for Bangkok on December 9th, arriving in time to participate in training sessions in preparation for the crucial match against Vietnam U23 at 4 PM on December 11th. Besides Aliff Izwan Yuslan, Malaysia U23 also welcomed back defender Aiman Yusoff, who had to miss the match against Laos U23 due to a fever and has now fully recovered.

As of December 10, based on reality, U.23 Malaysia has the best squad as expected by coach Nafuzi Zain before the 33rd SEA Games begins. Harimau Muda is only missing striker Fergus Tierney, because this player was only allowed by Sabah Club to join the national team after December 14.

Despite these developments, which seemed to be chaotic, coach Nafuzi Zain was finally able to resolve many issues regarding the U.23 Malaysia squad to gradually stabilize and prepare best for the match against U.23 Vietnam.

Rất mới: CLB giải cứu U.23 Malaysia giờ chót, tăng sức nóng trận ‘đại chiến’ U.23 Việt Nam- Ảnh 2. — Malaysia U.23 coach Nafuzi Zain remains calm ahead of the match against Vietnam U.23.

"Even with players constantly coming and going, we have to accept this challenge and focus on our opponent, Vietnam U23. I just need to stay calm and find the best solution. Each stage has different challenges. This stage is unique, but it's part of the job," coach Nafuzi Zain told Malaysian media on the afternoon of December 9.

Coach Nafuzi Zain also affirmed: "Despite the speculations, first of all, we play to win. But there is also another important thing: if we cannot lose… if we avoid defeat, we will reach the semi-finals."

In Group B of the 33rd SEA Games men's football, in the final round of the decisive match between U.23 Vietnam and Malaysia (currently both have 3 points), the winning team will take first place in the group.

Even if Malaysia U23 draws, they will still win the group because they have a better goal difference. If they draw, Vietnam U23, who is second in the group, will advance to the semi-finals, making the remaining match in Group C between Indonesia U23 and Myanmar U23 (December 12) a formality.

"U.23 Vietnam is a very strong team with strength and squad depth. Therefore, overcoming this opponent is not easy. U.23 Vietnam has won the SEA Games gold medal twice recently (in 2019 and 2021, competing in 2022).

They have added a lot of quality players, you can see how Nguyen Dinh Bac is in great form. He scored 2 goals in the 2-1 win over Laos. Dinh Bac has always been a constant threat at both youth and national level.

However, we are only focusing on what we have to do. That's all that matters most," emphasized coach Nafuzi Zain.