PETALING JAYA: Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi admitted to being surprised by the wanting performance shown by the national under-23 Squad (U23) at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia, recently.
He said with the line-up of players in the squad and the quality they possessed, he personally felt the Harimau Muda squad coached by E. Elavarasan, which had set a target to reach the finals, would at least be able to advance from the group stage.
However, he expressed confidence in the ability of the country’s young players as well as the credibility of Elavarasan, who is also the assistant head coach of the national senior squad, to continue doing their best ahead of the 2024 U23 Asian Cup Qualifying round in September.
“For me, this team can progress further and succeed,“ he said when met at the 2023 Al-Ikhsan Cup Logo Launch Ceremony here, today.
At the 2023 SEA Games which ended last week, the national U23 squad missed out of the semi-finals after finishing third in Group B behind Thailand and Vietnam.
Earlier, at the Al-Ikhsan Cup 2023 Logo Launch Ceremony, a total of 16 teams were unveiled including five from Sarawak, which will divided into three zonal groups to compete for the inaugural Al-Ikhsan Cup which was originally known as the M4 League competition.- Bernama
