Malaysia’s chances at the Asean Football Federation Under-23 Championship in Phnom Penh are looking brighter after arch rivals Indonesia withdrew due to Covid-19 infections.
The Indonesia FA issued a statement yesterday, saying seven of their 29 players tested positive.
Another four others have been categorised as suspected Covid cases. Three players are also injured.
Indonesia coach Coach Shin Tae-yong has voiced his concern over the team’s strength, and this has led to Indonesia’s withdrawal.
This means, Group B is now reduced to three teams — Malaysia, Myanmar and Laos.
Competitions are set to be played from Feb 14-26.
Malaysia coach Brad Maloney and his 28-player team flew to Cambodia yesterday after their final friendly match against Malaysia Cup champions KL City in Kelana Jaya on Thursday.
The national Under-23 team held KL City to a 1-1 draw at the PKNS field.
Giancarlo Gallifuoco scored for KL while Zharmien Ashraf Ismail replied for Maloney’s team.
The Australian coach said: “I think the players have done quite well and come quite far in a short amount of time.
“We asked them to absorb a lot of information which they have been able to put into the match and duplicate on the training pitch.
“We have settled on the final 28 which is what was seen here and the only one missing was Kaka (Nur Azfar Fikri Azhar) but he will join us.
“This is an opportunity for younger ones to gain exposure at an international level and give time to those who didn’t play so much previously. We have about eight or nine that were with us in the last tournament who did not get enough game time.”
Sikh Izhan Nazrel Sikh Azman, Zikri Khalili, Azrin Afiq Rusmini, Fahmi Daniel Zaaim, Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar, Azfar Fikri Azhar, Syed Muhammad Nasrulhaq Syed Bidin, Shafi Azswad Sapari, T. Saravanan and Aiman Afif Afizul were in Maloney’s squad of 23 that secured Malaysia a place in the Under-23 Asian Cup proper.
Malaysia emerged as Group J champions during the qualifications in October in Mongolia.
Following Malaysia’s early exit at the AFF Cup in December. an independent investigation concluded that FAM had set an unrealistic target of reaching the final.
When Maloney was asked about the target set for his boys in the Asean Under-23, he said: “To give our players as much exposure as possible.”
The Asean Under-23 is one of four major competitions for the national youth team this year, apart from the Sea Games in May, Asian Under-23 Cup in June and the Asian Games in September.
