U.23 Malaysia makes surprising decision on naturalized players: U.23 Vietnam takes note

U.23 Malaysia is a formidable opponent on U.23 Vietnam's journey to defend the Southeast Asian U.23 throne.

U.23 Malaysia limits calling up naturalized players

U.23 Malaysia is racing to prepare for the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament, taking place in Indonesia from July 15 to 29.

This is a football tournament that Malaysia has never won. In the 2022 U.23 Southeast Asian Championship, U.23 Malaysia lost 2 group stage matches against U.23 Laos (due to U.23 Indonesia's withdrawal, the group only had 2 teams, Laos and Malaysia, so the team that entered the semi-finals was chosen by playing 2 matches against each other). In the 2023 U.23 Southeast Asian Championship, U.23 Malaysia lost 1-4 in the semi-finals against U.23 Vietnam.

U.23 Vietnam (white shirt) won 4-1 against U.23 Malaysia in the semi-finals of U.23 Southeast Asia 2023

PHOTO: PHUC THANG

Therefore, the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) has prepared very carefully for this tournament. Coach Nafuzi Zain has announced the list of 30 players participating in a special training program called "Elite Games". Of which, 30 selected players will practice intensively, so that Mr. Zain can choose the best faces for the 2025 Southeast Asian U.23 tournament.

Initially, U.23 Malaysia was expected to call up many naturalized players, notably striker Gabriel Palermo, a defender from CD Tenerife B in the Spanish fourth division. Nooa Laine (Finnish origin) was also a prominent candidate that coach Zain was targeting.

However, in the end, the U.23 Malaysia coaching staff only selected two naturalized players, including Fergus Tierney and Ziad El Basheer. Both are playing in the Malaysian Super League and were not called up to the national team in the most recent training session.

According to Malaysian press, more than half of the roster for the U.23 Southeast Asian tournament of the "Tigers" will include new faces who have not often appeared in the Malaysian national championship. FAM wants to take advantage of the U.23 Southeast Asian playground to develop young forces, train new factors, focusing on developing domestic players.

In the context of Malaysia being under public pressure due to its massive naturalization policy (using 13 naturalized players in the 4-0 win over Vietnam in the 2027 Asian Cup qualifiers), FAM and the U.23 Malaysia coaching staff want to give more opportunities to young local talents.

"I want to test new faces for U.23 Malaysia. 60% of the players attending the Elite Games have been called up to the U.23 Malaysia team. The team's goal is to reach the semi-finals, then strive to reach the final. The whole team will calculate each match," coach Nafuzi Zain emphasized.

Because U.23 Malaysia did not use its optimal force, the opportunity for U.23 Vietnam to defend its throne will be wide open.

Coach Kim Sang-sik will join U.23 Vietnam to defend the Southeast Asian throne.

PHOTO: MINH TU

U.23 Malaysia is in Group A with host U.23 Indonesia, U.23 Philippines and U.23 Brunei. Meanwhile, U.23 Vietnam is in Group B with U.23 Laos and U.23 Cambodia. In Group C, U.23 Thailand will face U.23 Myanmar and U.23 Timor Leste.

The teams compete in a round robin to calculate points, the 3 group winners and the 1 second-place team with the best record enter the semi-finals.

Ambition of Malaysian football

Along with U.23 Malaysia, FAM is urgently preparing for the Malaysian team to play in the Central Asian Cup (CAFA) in September.

Recently, the organizing committee of the Malaysian national championship decided to stop the tournament for 2 weeks (from August 26 to September 9) so that the Malaysian team can have the strongest force, to prepare optimally for the competitions with Iran (ranked 18th in the world ), Uzbekistan (ranked 57), Oman (ranked 77), Kyrgyzstan (ranked 103), Tajikistan (ranked 104), Turkmenistan (ranked 142) and Afghanistan (ranked 160).

"The mission of the Malaysian national championship is to provide the best support to the team. The tournament will have a short break. However, we are committed to not interrupting the tournament, but will allocate a suitable match schedule," acting CEO Shazli Shaik affirmed.

Besides the naturalized force, Malaysia stopped the domestic tournament because many of the team's faces came from key clubs such as Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT), Selangor, Sabah and Kuala Lumpur City.

While Malaysia plays in the CAFA Cup, the Vietnamese team will rest in September to make way for the U.23 Vietnam team to play in the 2026 AFC U.23 Championship qualifiers.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/u23-malaysia-quyet-dinh-bat-ngo-ve-cau-thu-nhap-tich-u23-viet-nam-chu-y-185250626165714536.htm