PETALING JAYA, July 13 — Work hard and prove your worth to earn a place in the team.
This is the advice from national Under 19 (U-19) squad head coach, Brad Maloney to the 35 players who have been called up for centralised training prior to their participation in the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) U-19 Championship in Uzbekistan, on October.
The 48-year-old Australian-born coach said he would not practise any favouritism in the selection process despite some of the players called up plying their trade abroad, including a couple of mixed-blood or players of Malaysian heritage.
“There will be no special preference within this team. Everybody has to fight for their spot.
“For instance, Wan Kuzri Wan Kamal is a quality player since he plays in the senior team of a team in the United States, but Iike I’ve said, he has to fight for a place just like the other players,” he told reporters prior to the squad’s training session today at Wisma FAM, here.
In this regard, Maloney said Wan Kuzri is slated to join centralised training on Wednesday after completing his mandatory Covid-19 two-week home quarantine since returning from the United States, a fortnight ago.
His views were echoed by Anglo-Malaysian player Zachry Raiff Ghazie Yeoh who said mixed-blood players did not have any advantage over the others and that they must prove themselves if they wanted to make the trip to Uzbekistan.
He plays for Brooke House Football Academy in England.
The Uzbekistan championship from October 14-31 also serves as platform for qualification to the Under-20 World Cup 2021 and this team targets to become Malaysia’s first to book a spot in the prestigious tournament.
Malaysia are in Group D with former champions Qatar, Tajikistan and Yemen. — Bernama
