PETALING JAYA, Feb 17 — A tricky journey lies ahead for the national Under-23 (U-23) squad as they were drawn in Group C with reigning champions South Korea for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup in Uzbekistan, next June.
Not only that, the young squad is also placed together in the same group with 2018 runners-up Vietnam and Thailand.
Commenting on the draw, the squad’s head coach Brad Maloney described it as interesting due to the fact that it will be highly likely they will be taking on Vietnam and Thailand twice in two months.
This is due to the fact that Maloney’s boys are expected to play against Vietnam and Thailand in the SEA Games, slated to be held in Hanoi this May, ahead of the AFC U-23 Asian Cup.
“We have just watched the draw, it’s interesting because South Korea are defending champions and obviously we expect them to be challenging,” he told a virtual press conference here, today.
As such, the Australian coach insisted that he is looking forward to prepare for the tournament albeit realising that there’ll be no easy matches for them in Uzbekistan come June.
Malaysia booked their berth to the finals of the U-23 Asian Cup in Uzbekistan after emerging Group J champions with 1-0 wins over Laos and Mongolia before ending the qualifiers with a goalless draw against Thailand.
This is the second time the national youth team qualified for the finals of the championship since it was introduced in 2014.
The Under-22 squad had previously qualified for the 2018 finals in China after finishing second in the group stage before losing 1-2 to South Korea in the quarterfinals.
In the meantime, today’s draw saw Group A consist of host nation Uzbekistan, Iran, Qatar and Turkmenistan.
Group B comprises Australia, Jordan, Iraq and Kuwait while Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Japan and Tajikistan are drawn in Group D.
Meanwhile, Maloney was “glad” to know that his team will be playing not once but twice against Laos in Group B in the 2022 Asean Football Federation (AFF) U-23 Championship in Cambodia.
“The more football the better because it is much better than playing a one-off match but if we did qualify for the semifinals, it will be a large gap,” he said.
He also confirmed that Fahmi Daniel Zaaim and Shafi Azswad Sapari, who tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival (in Phnom Penh), are set to be released from quarantine today but both are doubtful to be featured in the Group B opening fixture against Laos tomorrow.
Apart from tomorrow’s match that had been scheduled earlier at Prince Stadium, AFF today confirmed that the second match will be played on Monday (February 21) at the Morodok Techno National Stadium, also in the Cambodian capital.
The latest schedule came about following the Group B competition now only involving Malaysia and Laos after Myanmar and Indonesia, who were also drawn in the group, withdrew from the tournament due to the spread of Covid-19 in their teams.
Only the winners of the three groups in contention and the best runner-up will advance to the semi-finals on February 24 while the final is scheduled for February 26. — Bernama
