KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 5 — National Under-23 football team head coach Nafuzi Zain knows the importance of getting off to a winning start and has been drilling that into his players ahead of their opening Group B match against Laos in the SEA Games Thailand 2025 tomorrow.

He does have a point.

“If you look at the two previous Games, we lost the early matches and that made it difficult for us to advance further,” he said.

Having said that, he was quick to admit that it won’t be easy to get all three points off Laos at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, either, especially after Laos produced a fighting display en route to losing 2-1 to Vietnam on Wednesday, December 3.

Nafuzi is aware that a win over Laos will boost team spirit and morale ahead of their sternest group test — a matchup against favourites Vietnam in their second and final Group B tie.

“That’s why, whatever happens, we must do our best and get a win over Laos,” he said in a video clip shared by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) today.

Malaysia will also have to do it without three key players, as Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili, Alif Izwan Yuslan and Fergus Tierney are unavailable after their clubs refused to release them to play in the biennial Games.

Nafuzi, however, is unperturbed, saying he will rely on those available to get all three points from the opening game.

The national Under-23 squad, also known as Harimau Muda, have been drawn in Group B with Laos and Vietnam, with only the group champions and the best second-placed teams qualifying for the semi-finals.

Malaysia last won the gold medal in football at the SEA Games in 2011 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

For the latest news on the SEA Games Thailand 2025, visit https://seagames.bernama.com. — Bernama