Malaysia’s Wary of Approaching AFF U-23 Cup Face Indonesian National Team and East Timor

CNN Indonesia

Tuesday, 30 May 2023 13:50 WIB

Jakarta, CNNIndonesia —

Malaysia’s failure to win a medal in SEA Games 2023 making the Young Tigers wary of approaching AFF U-23 Cup face Indonesian National team and East Timor.

The age group championship which will take place in Thailand in August 2023 is targeted to be a place to restore confidence for Malaysia which has not had success at the SEA Games, but on the other hand the Elavarasan squad is also advised to be careful.

Malaysia will be in Group B of the 2023 AFF U-23 Cup with Indonesia and Timor Leste. According to former Malaysian U-23 coach Azraai Khor Abdullah, the two opponents he will face are not random opponents.

“We have to get up, that’s why I say this is an opportunity for us to redeem our dignity at the SEA Games. The most important thing is that we also see who is in the group. We will face SEA Games champion Cambodia, besides that we also have to be careful with Timor Leste. ,” Abdullah said quoted from Messenger.

“They (Timor Leste) are no longer a random team. On paper, we have hope. But sometimes what we plan doesn’t happen, for example at the SEA Games. Previously we won the Merlion Cup in Singapore,” Abdullah continued.

Facing the U-23 AFF Cup, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) plans to summon players who play in Europe such as Nooa Laine and Luqman Hakim Shamsudin. The two players were not on the Malaysia squad list at the last SEA Games.

FAM’s reasons are not only about the target of qualifying for the group phase, but also the AFF U-23 Cup as a place for the team’s preparation for the qualification for the U-23 Asian Cup which will take place next September.

“It’s best not to repeat what happened in Cambodia, we went with mounting hopes but were disappointed. So we don’t want this case to happen again and proper preparations also need to be made to stabilize the troops,” said Abdullah.

(nva/sry)