U.23 Asia Finals: Malaysia focuses all its efforts on the match against Thailand

Coach Maloney admitted that a number of small mistakes caused his team to be U.23 Korea punished 4 goals in the opening match of Group C on June 2. In the match at Lokomotiv, Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Malaysia U.23 had many difficulties in adapting to Korea’s speed play and lost 1-4.

Malaysia U.23 (yellow shirt) focuses all its efforts on the Thailand U.23 match FAMILY

Australian military leader Maloney said, though Malaysia U.23 lost to the defending champion but overall he was still satisfied with the performance that the players showed. “Of course we expect the match to be quite difficult because Korea U.23 is the defending champion and it is difficult for us to play well. But I am proud of the performance of the players. They got a goal and then kept trying to push the team up to find the equalizer and some mistakes had consequences for us,” said coach Maloney.

This defeat leaves Malaysia U.23 at the bottom of Group C after Thailand U.23 and Vietnam U.23 split points in the first match. Therefore, coach Maloney called on the students to immediately forget the defeat against U.23 Korea to focus on two matches against rivals in the same area, U.23 Thailand (on June 5) and the champion. SEA Games 31U.23 Vietnam (8.6).

The Australian military leader said that the coaching staff is currently preparing thoroughly by ensuring that the players are in a state of readiness to overcome Thailand U.23. “We went through a very difficult match and now there is another challenge waiting, which is Thailand. It was not an easy match. We have met Thailand a few times in the last few months, they are a good team with the presence of some players from abroad,” coach Maloney emphasized.

Striker Hadi (No. 9) is one of the hopes of Malaysia U.23 FAMILY

The captain of Harimau Muda (nicknamed the Malaysia U.23 team), Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi, also called on his teammates that the most important thing right now is to focus all of his energy on the second match against Thailand U.23. at Bunyodkor Stadium, Tashkent. The 20-year-old Selangor club player thinks that the result of the match against Thailand U.23 will affect the journey of the Malaysian U.23 team at the AFC U.23 Championship this time.

“I hope the players forget the previous loss to Korea U.23. Back to the heart is the match against Thailand U.23 and I hope we will bounce back from the defeat against Korea. This is an opportunity. It’s the best chance for us and I hope the team can win to maintain our hopes of reaching the quarterfinals,” said Mukhairi Ajmal.