KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia seek redemption at the Under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers in Bangkok next month.
To do so, which means qualify for the final round in Saudi Arabia, Young Tigers need to top Group F against Lebanon, Mongolia and hosts Thailand, or finish among the top four ranked runners-up among 11 groups.
The team, led by Nafuzi Zain, were left to lick their wounds following a disappointing early exit from last month’s Asean Under-23 Championship in Indonesia.
Defender Ahmad Aysar Hadi Shapri believes the coaches can rectify the team’s weaknesses in the friendly matches against Kuwait and Oman in Bangkok during their centralised camp from Aug 18-Aug 31.
“Our target is to qualify for Saudi Arabia, that is our goal. We want to make up for our failure in Jakarta. The coaches know what we need to fix,” he said.
Malaysia begin their Group F campaign against Lebanon on Sept 3, followed by Mongolia (Sept 6) and Thailand (Sept 9).
“All three matches will be tough because every team are targeting qualification,” said Ahmad.
Malaysia failed to progress past the group stage of the Under-23 Asian Cup in 2022, Uzbekistan, and 2024, Qatar.
Malaysia’s best performance was in 2018 in China, where the team reached the quarter-finals before losing 2-1 to South Korea.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
