U-23 football team must rely on other results to reach the SEA Games semi-finals after a 0-2 loss to Vietnam, with coach Mohd Nafuzi citing a lack of aggression.
MALAYSIA’s hopes of reaching the SEA Games men’s football semi-finals now rest on other results after a 0-2 defeat to Vietnam in their final Group B match.
Coach Mohd Nafuzi Zain lamented his team’s lack of aggression and the excessive space given to their opponents at the Rajamangala National Stadium.
“We are very disappointed because we only wanted to draw to reach the semi-finals but in the last group match we were not too aggressive and gave the opponent a lot of space and conceded two easy goals,” he said.
Vietnam capitalised on that space to score twice in the first half, with Nguyen Hieu Minh heading home in the 11th minute before Pham Minh Phuc doubled the lead in the 22nd.
The result leaves Malaysia second in Group B with three points, while Vietnam top the group with six and advance automatically.
Malaysia must now wait for the result of Indonesia’s final Group C match against Myanmar to see if they qualify as one of the best runners-up.
“For me, we need to qualify through our own efforts but maybe not luck, (Malaysia’s) chances are not 100% closed but have to depend on other teams,” Mohd Nafuzi added.
The coach noted tactical changes improved the team’s performance in the second half, but they still failed to find the goals needed.
Malaysia’s last podium finish at the SEA Games was a silver medal on home soil in 2017.
The team was eliminated in the group stage in 2023 and lost the bronze medal match in 2021.
