KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 — National Under-23 squad (U-23) head coach E. Elavarasan is aware that he would not have the luxury of choosing his players from a bigger pool of players when he prepares his side for the 2023 Asean Football Federation Cup (AFF Cup) scheduled to start later this week.

Since the AFF Cup is scheduled from August 17 to 26 in Rayong, Thailand and not aligned with the Fifa calendar, Elavarasan would not be able to include several high-profile players due to their commitment with their respective clubs.

However, Elavarasan wants to take advantage of the situation by exposing a number of players who have not featured in big tournaments, so as to gauge their potential before identifying and overcoming weaknesses in the squad ahead of the challenges in store at the 2024 Asia Cup U-23 tourney in Thailand, next month.

"This is the responsibility of a coach, every task given must be carried out well and every time need to improve the quality and consistency. This will be the sixth training camp and by now we should be able to identify our strength and weakness, for the betterment of the team.

"This (2023 U-23 AFF Cup) is our third competition...the first was Merlion Cup in March and SEA Games in May. We combine our experience from these tournaments to further develop and strengthen the team for the U-23 Asia Cup qualifier,” he said when met recently.

The National U-23 squad emerged as the champion in the Merlion Cup held in Singapore but failed to get past the group stages at the 2023 SEA Games competition in Cambodia.

Elavarasan added that the limitation in the selection of players has not burdened the coaching staff but rather enabled the coaching staff to gain valuable experience by managing to pool together the limited resources effectively and efficiently.

In the 2023 AFF Cup competition, Malaysia who have targeted to reach the final are drawn in Group B with Timor Leste and 2023 SEA Games gold medal winner Indonesia, while the competition offers the winner of the group and the runners-up a place in the knockout stage.

Group A features host Cambodia, Brunei and Myanmar while Group C has defending champion Vietnam, Laos and the Philippines.

Malaysia’s best achievement in the competition is a fourth place finish during the inaugural competition held in 2005.

In the 2024 U-23 Asia Cup qualifiers, Malaysia are drawn in Group H together with Thailand, Bangladesh and the Philippines, while every group winner and four best second placed teams qualify for the finals hosted by Qatar.

The tournament also offers one spot for the 2024 Paris Olympics. — Bernama