KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s shock defeat to Laos in the 2022 Asean Football Federation (AFF) Under-23 (U-23) Championship will hopefully serve as an eye-opener about how the absence of key players can impact the team.
Former Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) technical director Datuk Ong Kim Swee said challenges from countries such as Laos, Cambodia, Timor Leste and the Philippines could no longer be underestimated with the lack of key players in the tournament.
According to Kim Swee, the notion of ‘resting’ key players against teams viewed as weak needs to be discarded, thereby allowing coaches to select players they require for tournaments.
“This (the defeat to Laos) is no longer a slap, this to me represents our ‘stubbornness’. How many times do we want to be ‘slapped’ by teams like this?
“We have to stop this, we have to find a solution to get the best players into the team. For me, we have to come up with a solution to allow our best players to be exposed to such matches like this,” he told Bernama today.
Kim Swee admitted that there were reasons behind fielding the “second” team, especially for tournaments that were not included in FIFA’s calendar, as it gave coaches a chance to test out different players.
The former head coach of the senior and the national U-23 squads said if the team did not manage to reach the set target, the failure should not be blamed on any specific individual.
“For example, me. When the 2019 South East Asia (SEA) Games was not included the FIFA calendar and some players were not allowed to join the team, what happened to me? .. I was fired. I don’t want to defend anyone, but I’ve said this many times.
“In the past when we lost, I said we cannot look down on Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines and this time it has been proven, they have reduced the gap between the teams,” he said.
The 1-2 humiliating loss to Laos last Friday was the national U-23 squad’s first match in their AFF 2022 U-23 Championship campaign. Brad Maloney’s charges, however, have a chance to qualify for the semi-finals as Group B champions should they beat Laos in the final group match with a two-goal difference.
The loss was Malaysia’s first in the last six encounters with Laos in the U-23 championship since 2014.
Meanwhile, Kim Swee advised those chosen to play in the tournament to believe in their own abilities ahead of their second match against Laos.
He said the players needed to make the most of the opportunity to prove their worth so that they would continue to be selected for the national team in the future.
“With the absence of or even with the problem of (key) players not being released, if they prove they can play better and get positive results, from the viewpoint of a coach, they would definitely be retained for future assignments.
“If they do not make full use of this opportunity, the door leading to the national squad might be closed to them after this,” he added. – Bernama, February 21, 2022
