KUALA LUMPUR, July 2 — National Under-19 head coach Brad Maloney has left out some key players, including Luqman Hakim Shamsudin, when he named a 35-man squad for the three-week centralised training to be held at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya from Monday (July 6).

The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) said in a statement that the training was part of their early preparation for the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-19 Championship to be held in Uzbekistan from Oct 14-31.

Luqman Hakim was the top scorer in the 2018 AFC Under-16 Championship.

“Some of those not called up, like goalkeepers Firdaus Irman Mohd Fadhil and Sikh Izhan Nazrel Sikh; Azrin Afiq Rusmini, Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar, Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi, Luqman Hakim and Ahmad Zikri Mohd Khalili, are expected to join the next centralised training camp.

“Fourteen of the players called up are from the 23-man squad which took part in the qualifying round in Phnom Penh, Cambodia last year while the remaining 12 are those who attended the national selection last year and also new faces,” said the statement.

Also called up are Wan Ahmad Kuzri Wan Kama, who plays for St Louis Football Academy in the US, and Muhammad Adam Nadzmi Zamri of BISP Cruzeiro Football Academy, Phuket.

Malaysia, who have been drawn in Group D with 2014 champion Qatar, Tajikistan and Yemen, will open their campaign against Tajikistan on Oct 16, followed by Qatar on Oct 19 and Yemen three days later. All the matches will be played at the AGMK Stadium, Olmalik.

Only the top two teams from each group will move into the quarterfinals to vie for the four automatic spots in the 2021 Under-21 World Cup in Indonesia. However, should Indonesia, who are in Group A with host Uzbekistan, Cambodia and Iran, make the semi-finals, then the four losing quarterfinalists will be involved in a playoff for the remaining slot.

In the 2018 edition in Indonesia, then coach Bojan Hodak failed to guide Malaysia into the quarterfinals after suffering two defeats (2-1 to Saudi Arabia and 2-0 to China) and one draw (2-2 with Tajikistan) to prop up Group D. 

Malaysia’s best achievement since the AFC Under-19 Championship began in 1959 (when it was known as the AFC Youth Championship) was emerging as runner-up three times in 1959, 1960 and 1968 as well as finishing third twice in 1964 and 1965.

The closest the national youth team have come to emulating those sides were in 2004 when coach Datuk K. Rajagobal led host Malaysia to the quarterfinals, where they lost 3-0 to China. — Bernama