KUALA LUMPUR: National Under-23 coach Nafuzi Zain could not hide his frustration after the team failed to qualify for the 2026 Asian Cup.
The Young Tigers crashed out after a 2-1 loss to Thailand in their Group F clash, following Kakana Khamyok’s brace (33rd and 92nd minutes) at the Thammasat Stadium yesterday.
Aysar Hadi scored the consolation goal for Malaysia (40th).
The rain-delayed match saw both teams struggle to play on the waterlogged pitch and Nafuzi said his men came undone due to simple mistakes.
“I’m very satisfied with the performance of my players tonight. I think both teams played good football, it’s not easy to play after heavy rains,” said Nafuzi in the post match press conference.
“Thailand are a very good side and have quality players but we gave a good fight and also had chances to win… but in the end, we made mistakes and we allowed our opponents to score. That’s why we lost 2-1 in the last minute. I feel frustrated with the result.”
“I think it’s not about tiredness (in this match) because even in the last minute, we kept attacking. We had chances to score goals but we made a mistake.”
The defeat leaves the Young Tigers in third place in Group F with three points, while Thailand finished in first with seven points and a better goal difference over Lebanon, who also garnered seven .
The Malaysians started their qualifying campaign with a 1-0 loss to Lebanon on Sept 3 before bouncing back to beat Mongolia 7-0 on Sept 6.
But any hopes of qualifying ended with the defeat to host Thailand.
Only the group winners and four best runners-up will secure slots at the 2027 Under-23 Asian Cup finals, along with host nation Saudi Arabia.
Previously, the national Under-23 squad has qualified for the Asian Cup three times in 2018, 2022 and 2024, with their best achievement being a quarter-final finish in 2018.
Nafuzi said the team has improved despite the heartbreak and his charges will next shift their focus to the Thailand SEA Games in December.
“I think our squad has improved. We have a better team and play better football. But we still have a lot to learn. I will prepare for the next SEA Games. I hope we can do better to get good results in the SEA Games,” added the former international.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
