KUALA LUMPUR – National Under 23 (U-23) football squad head coach Brad Maloney has no plans to change his team’s approach when they face Laos again in their final Group B match of the 2022 Asean Football Federation (AFF) U-23 Championship on Monday.
Maloney said changing their tactical game was not the best option after seeing the positive impact produced by his side despite failing to secure a victory over Laos in yesterday’s opening match.
“Our principle remains the same, the way we want to play, the way we want to dominate games, to dominate all moments in each match. I believe we did that yesterday for a long period of time and it worked for us when we took the lead in halftime, for example.
“Of course, we need to learn from our errors in the second half when we conceded those two goals even with the few chances that Laos had then. We must improve on that and that’s what we work on between now and Monday,” he said in a virtual press conference from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, today.
At the same time, Maloney said several new faces would be given a chance in Monday’s match with the Australian-born coach also hoping that winger Muhammad Fahmi Daniel Mohd Zaaim and striker Shafi Azswad Sapari are free to play.
Maloney said both players had their Covid-19 screening tests earlier today and they would be allowed to join the team immediately if the results were negative.
In their opening match at Prince Stadium in Phnom Penh, Malaysia was shocked with a 1-2 defeat to Laos with midfielder A. Selvan scoring the only goal while Laos captain Bounphachan Bounkong secured three points for his team by scoring a brace of goals.
This result means that Maloney’s boys have to win by two goals in their second meeting to secure a place in the semi-finals.
Meantime, Selvan, despite being proud to have scored his first international goal, said the loss to Laos was very painful, especially when the team dominated the match.
“We have only one more match and I believe we can do our best with two days of field training to prepare,” the Negeri Sembilan FC player said.
The Group B fixtures only involve Malaysia and Laos after Myanmar and Indonesia withdrew from the championship due to Covid-19 infections in their teams.
Only the three group winners and the best second-placed team will advance to the semi-finals on February 24, with the final slated for February 26. – Bernama, February 19, 2022
