Malaysia U22 team's pillar sends strong message to Vietnam U22 before SEA Games

Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili is a rare player of U22 Malaysia who has played a lot in the club.

U22 Malaysia is focusing on preparing for the 33rd SEA Games, an event that promises to be difficult for them when they are in the same group as U22 Vietnam and U22 Laos, while each group only has 1 team to advance. The list of U22 Malaysia announced by coach Nafuzi Zain has brought anxiety to fans when most of the players he brought with him only play in the lower leagues, many of whom have not even played for their home clubs.

Of the total 25 names, only 6 are playing in the Super League - the equivalent of Vietnam's LPBank V.League 1. This is a low number compared to the squad under coach Kim Sang-sik (all players play in the highest league, with more than half playing regularly at their clubs).

In fact, in youth competitions, Malaysia is often at a disadvantage compared to Vietnam. At the recent U23 Southeast Asian tournament, they could not even get past the group stage. At the 32nd SEA Games, Malaysia lost to Vietnam and could not get past the group stage.

Malaysian youth teams often lose to Vietnam.

Therefore, the chance of this team causing a surprise is not considered high, they even face the risk of not being able to beat Laos. However, Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili is still very optimistic.

The defender of U22 Malaysia declared that he is not afraid of U22 Vietnam: “Of course, every tournament has its own challenges, but as football players, we must know how to overcome them. (U22) Vietnam may be strong, but anything can happen in 90 minutes. We will fight with all our might and we are certainly not afraid of them.”

The Terengganu FC player also showed his wariness of Laos U22. "Laos cannot be underestimated because they are using the same squad for the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers and the 33rd SEA Games. The focus now is to perform as well as possible," he said, "In the first SEA Games I attended, Malaysia could only finish 4th. If I have the chance, I will win a medal at the 33rd SEA Games because that is my dream."

Source: https://tienphong.vn/tru-cot-tuyen-u22-malaysia-gui-thong-diep-danh-thep-toi-u22-viet-nam-truoc-them-sea-games-post1799702.tpo