PETALING JAYA, June 6 — E. Elavarasan has been given the mandate to remain as the national Under-23 football team head coach as the Harimau Muda prepare for two more international assignments this year.
Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) secretary-general Noor Azman Rahman said today’s meeting decided not to make any technical changes to the Harimau Muda outfit, who have been set a target of qualifying for the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) Under-23 Asian Cup next year.
He said Elavarasan had been set a new key performance indicator (KPI) and his responsibility is to ensure that Harimau Muda finish among the top teams in the Under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers in September.
“We will be taking part in two more international competitions, namely the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Under-23 Championship in August and the 2024 AFC Under-23 Asian Cup, with both tournaments to be held in Thailand.
“After the meeting earlier, we decided to retain Elavarasan’s services for him to guide the team in both the tournaments,” he told a media conference after the eighth FAM executive committee meeting at Wisma FAM, here, today.
The Under-23 squad recently came under fire for their early exit in the group stage of the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia, which resulted in them failing to meet the target of reaching the final.
Malaysia have been drawn with 2023 SEA Games gold medallists Indonesia in the AFF Under-23 Championship to be held in Chonburi, Thailand. — Bernama
