KUALA LUMPUR – The national men’s football squad are aiming to at least win a silver medal at the Cambodia SEA Games from May 5-17 .
National U-23 squad head coach E. Elavarasan said after finishing in fourth place at the Hanoi SEA Games last year, his side aims to improve on that position.
“Now with the new coaching team, we want a better achievement, at least the final is very important, from there we can think of the next step. We should have certain targets, so that the players and coaches are motivated,” he told a press conference at Wisma FAM here today.
Since winning the gold medal in the 2011 edition in Indonesia, Malaysia have only reached the final once, which was when they were the hosts in 2017.
Finishing in fourth place in 2013 in Myanmar and 2021 in Hanoi, Malaysia were eliminated as early as the group stages in the 2015 edition in Singapore and 2019 in the Philippines.
Meanwhile, Elavarasan is hoping for the cooperation of Super League clubs to help him gather the best players towards realising the target.
Having tested 47 players in total, he hopes to reach an agreement with the clubs to release their respective players, as some clubs reportedly do not want to release them outside the FIFA window.
“If possible, we want to get the best players, because it can increase the confidence of the team to get a winning mentality. But players have contract obligations with the clubs, so if they don’t release, we have to prepare other players,” he said.
The U-23 coaching team has just completed the testing of 25 players in the second phase of the centralised training camp from February 14-19, where only three players from the first phase last November were called up this time.
Elavarasan added that they were also constantly monitoring players who are currently playing abroad – such as Luqman Hakim Shamsudin, who is currently with Njardvik FC in Iceland, and is expected to participate in the next phase of training during the FIFA window period. – Bernama, February 20, 2023
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