KUALA LUMPUR: The National Under-23 (U-23) squad cannot underestimate Timor Leste’s ability when the two teams meet in the final Group B match of the 2023 Asean Football Federation (AFF) Under-23 Championship today.
If they win the match at the Rayong Provincial Stadium in Thailand, the Harimau Muda squad coached by E. Elavarasan will collect six points and confirm their progress to the semi-finals as group champions.
Elavarasan said that Timor Leste, who advanced to the semi-finals of the last edition, cannot be regarded as an ordinary team, especially after giving stiff competition before narrowly losing 0-1 to the 2023 SEA Games champions Indonesia on Monday (Aug 20).
“With only a 1-0 margin of defeat when Indonesia beat them (Timor Leste), we have to be more careful when playing against Timor Leste so that our passage to the semi-finals is not jeopardised… we will try our best to achieve a good result,” he said through an audio message to the local media yesterday.
At the same time, Elavarasan said the players’ level of compatibility showed improvement in recent training sessions after going through a short preparation phase before leaving for Thailand.
Meanwhile, skipper Mohd Aiman Afif Md Afizul described the team as more motivated ahead of tomorrow’s match following the success of defeating Indonesia 2-1 in the opening match of Group B last Friday.
“The match with Indonesia was a spirited one, as we started on the right footing in the group competition and want to continue the winning momentum against Timor Leste but we cannot look down on them and must put up our best for three points,” said the 22-year-old Kedah Darul Aman FC player.
In the meantime, winger Muhamad Syahir Bashah said he and the team are in better stead now to face Timor Leste.
“My game was not so good in the first match, I will try to perform better to help the team. We will not take Timor Leste lightly, we know they also play up to par but we must up the ante,” said the 22-year-old Selangor FC player.
Malaysia currently lead Group B tied on three points with Indonesia who are in second spot while Timor Leste are lying third without any points.
Only the champion of each group together with the best runner-up qualify for the semi-finals.
Malaysia’s best achievement at the AFF U-23 Championship was finishing fourth in the inaugural edition in 2005. – BERNAMA
