Coach Saddil Ramdani at the Sabah FC club, Ong Kim Swee, commented on the strength map of the contestants in the soccer sport on SEA Games 2021 (SEA Games 2022) including the U-23 Indonesian National Team.
Ong, who once brought Malaysia to become the 2011 SEA Games champion and won a silver medal at the 2017 SEA Games, expressed his opinion about the strength of the Vietnam U-23 national team compared to rivals.
According to Ong, Park Hang Seo has an advantage over other coaches who handle the U-23 squad in Southeast Asia ahead of the SEA Games.
“Vietnam U-23 looks like a team with the best preparation, while Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia or Singapore have problems because the club refuses to let players go,” said Ong, quoted from the statement. Soha.
Ong’s words made sense. The Golden Star squad has undergone training camps for a relatively long time with a strength of up to 40 players.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian U-23 national team had to undergo training without complete players. Egy Maulana Vikri, Witan Sulaeman, Elkan Baggott, Asnawi Mangkualam, and Saddil were unable to join the training camp from the start. Even Primary Arhan, which is Shin Tae Yong’s mainstay, was not released by Tokyo Verdy.
Until now, the U-23 Indonesian National Team is still waiting for Baggott and will lose Saddil, who will join Sabah first.
The preparation of the Malaysia U-23 national team was also hampered by the ongoing schedule of the neighboring country’s football league. Meanwhile, the Singapore national team was not strengthened by brothers, Irfan Fandi and Ikhsan Fandi who competed in the Thai league.
“In 2019 I brought three players over 23 years old, but the core strength of the team remained in the hands of the U-19 players, the preparation period was very short, so Malaysia U-23 played sporadically and were eliminated early,” said Ong recalling the failure Malaysia at the 2019 SEA Games.
Ong supports the decision of Malaysia U-23 coach, Brad Maloney, not to use senior players in preparation for the squad for the U-23 Asian Cup in June 2022.
(nva/ptr)
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