Losing the U23 Southeast Asian tournament, Malaysian football is worried

Expert Zulakbal Abdul Karim (Malaysia) said that the failure at the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship is a warning for Malaysian football.

Young Malaysian players (in yellow shirts) are not strong enough to pass the group stage of the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship - Photo: ANH KHOA

Despite being one of the candidates for the 2025 Southeast Asian U23 Championship, U23 Malaysia had to say goodbye to the tournament early in the group stage. U23 Malaysia had a disappointing performance when they lost 0-2 to the Philippines, beat Brunei 7-1 and drew 0-0 with Indonesia.

Malaysian football experts are concerned that if they cannot improve their playing style soon, coach Nafuzi Zain's team may receive more painful results in the 2026 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers next September.

Malaysian football expert Zulakbal Abdul Karim said: "I watched the match against Indonesia U23. The Malaysian U23 players showed that they can play under pressure in front of a crowd of fans.

Individually they played well, but the problem was they couldn't score or combine effectively as a team."

Mr. Zulakbal Abdul Karim said that the U23 Malaysia team lacked physical strength and seemed to have not had the best preparation. This expert affirmed: "At this point, there should have been a full analysis of what went wrong and at the same time, a specific plan should have been put in place to overcome the failure at the U23 Southeast Asian Championship.

In less than two months, U23 Malaysia will enter the qualifying round of the 2026 AFC U23 Championship. The time is short, but if there is a clear plan, the team can completely return."

In the 2026 AFC U23 Championship qualifiers, U23 Malaysia is in Group F with host U23 Thailand, Mongolia and Lebanon.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thua-giai-u23-dong-nam-a-bong-da-malaysia-lo-lang-20250723084815651.htm