PETALING JAYA, July 20 — United States-based midfielder Wan Kuzri Wan Ahmad Kamal can be an asset to the team, but is still not guaranteed a place in the final 23-man squad for the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-19 Championship in October, said national Under-18 head coach Brad Maloney.
The 18-year-old St Louis Football Academy player became the talk of the town when he finally joined the 34-man training session last Thursday after months of anticipation.
However, that caused some uneasiness among local football fans, with some describing him as being over-rated.
Maloney, though, is satisfied with Wan Kuzri’s progress, for now.
“It’s normal for someone to be a little bit different… especially coming from abroad. But like I said, the player (Wan Kuzri) has to earn his spot on merit.
“From what I’ve seen so far, he looks quite good. So, I think he can be an asset to the team but, of course, nobody is guaranteed a place in the final squad,” Maloney told reporters prior to the squad’s training session at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya here today.
Meanwhile, Maloney is hoping to arrange two friendly matches before the centralised training camp ends on Saturday so that he can see Wan Kuzri’s true potential.
The friendlies will also be a gauge of the squad’s progress as they bid to become the first Malaysian team to qualify for the Under-20 World Cup Final on merit.
Maloney, who axed four players from the current training squad, said that the next centralised training camp would be held from Aug 3.
The 2020 AFC Under-19 Championship, scheduled to be held in Uzbekistan from Oct 14-31, will be the qualifying round for the 2021 Under-20 World Cup (in Indonesia).
Malaysia has been drawn in Group D of the Under-19 championship with former champion Qatar, Tajikistan and Yemen. — Bernama
