Head coach of U.23 Malaysia Nafuzi Zain quietly went to Bangkok to watch U.23 Vietnam meet Laos on December 3.
Photo: AFP
U.23 Malaysia loses troops before SEA Games
On the afternoon of December 4, the U.23 Malaysia team arrived in Bangkok to prepare for the opening match against U.23 Laos at 4:00 p.m. on December 7, before facing U.23 Vietnam on December 11 to compete for the top spot in Group B, men's football at the 33rd SEA Games.
Before leaving, coach Nafuzi Zain was still confident that the important duo including captain defender Ubaidullah Shamsul and especially naturalized striker Fergus Tierney would appear, following promises from the clubs.
In fact, Malaysian media at that time confirmed that Penyerang Sabah Club agreed to "give the green light" to Fergus Tierney, similarly to Terengganu Club with Ubaidullah Shamsul.
U.23 Vietnam will meet U.23 Malaysia on December 11
Photo: Nhat Thinh
However, it seems that these two teams have reconsidered and changed at the last minute, causing U.23 Malaysia to be at risk of missing important pillars.
The reason is that Fergus Tierney's Sabah club will have two very important matches against PDRM in the Malaysian national championship on December 6, before entering the FA Cup final against very strong opponent JDT on December 14.
Penyerang Sabah FC representative, Mr. Mohd Joh Wid, the team's coach, Mr. Jean-Paul de Marigny, is determined to keep the 22-year-old player in the national team for the FA Cup final against Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) on December 14.
U.23 Vietnam "watches the legs" of U.23 Malaysia
Coach Kim Sang-sik assigned the coaching staff to watch the match between U.23 Malaysia and U.23 Laos.
Photo: Nhat Thinh
Meanwhile, Ubaidullah Shamsul's Terengganu club will play Kuching club at 8pm today before facing Immigration FC on December 19.
Previously, coach Nafuzi Zain had a huge headache convincing Malaysian clubs to release players for the U.23 Malaysia team, mostly because the clubs did not believe the U.23 Malaysia team could make a difference at the 33rd SEA Games.
This comes from the disappointment of the football teams with the way the Malaysian Football Federation manages, allowing foreign players to flood the national championship, leading to young players being stunted due to limited opportunities to play at the club level, leading to the performance of the Malaysian U.23 team getting worse and worse.
Will U.23 Vietnam change before U.23 Malaysia?
Photo: Nhat Thinh
Most recently, at the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 tournament, U.23 Malaysia lost to U.23 Philippines and had to stop at the group stage, watching their opponents win tickets to the knockout round (then U.23 Philippines lost to U.23 Vietnam in the semi-finals).
In the opening match of Group B of the men's football tournament, coach Nafuzi Zain of the U.23 Malaysia team and FAM's technical director, former coach of the national team, Mr. Tan Cheng Hoe, secretly came to watch the U.23 Laos and U.23 Vietnam teams compete.
Coach Kim Sang-sik himself also planned and assigned the coaching staff to watch the match between U.23 Malaysia and U.23 Laos on December 7, to "watch the legs and feet" of our opponent in the final match of Group B on December 11.
Even many Malaysian experts are pessimistic, not sure that U.23 Malaysia will get 3 points in the opening match after witnessing U.23 Laos perform organized, extremely annoying football against U.23 Vietnam.
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Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u23-malaysia-mat-2-tru-cot-phut-cuoi-khong-som-buong-sung-truoc-viet-nam-thay-kim-cang-phai-can-trong-185251205123426909.htm
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