KUALA LUMPUR: The National Under-23 (U-23) squad’s inept performance when losing 0-2 to Uzbekistan in the 2024 U-23 Asia Cup competition in Doha, Qatar yesterday must be avoided in future games.
The tactical approach adopted by the Harimau Muda squad in their opening Group D match received heavy criticism since what was displayed by the players was a negative performance, especially in the first half, because there was no attempts on target by the Malaysian boys.
The negative performance showed by the squad under Juan Torres Garrido (pix) was clearly eveident by the failure of the players to control the ball in their own half, losing the ball to their opponents after two or three touches, as well as trying to rely on long passes.
What was more disappointing was that both goals created by Uzbekistan was due to individual errors by the players, including conceeding a penalty to the 2018 edition’s champion and last year’s runner up.
The poor performance from the Harimau Muda squad yesterday also drew the attention of local football analyst Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli who was both disappointed and concerned with the loss.
“We should not have lost to Uzbekistan the way we did. I observed that the efficiency of the players was not up to the mark. The way they played was negative and their style of play did not reflect the modern style of football.
“The individual mistakes in yesterday’s match should not happen at this level. Something need to be done immediately to lift the performance of the team before facing Vietnam and Kuwait after this, failing which, we can expect the team to return home empty handed without any points,” he told Bernama today.
In the match played at the Khalifa International Stadium yesterday, Uzbekistan skipper Jasurbek Jaloliddinov converted a penalty in the 11th minute after defender Muhamad Syahir Bashah was penalised for bringing down Ruslanbek Jiyanov inside the box.
Substitute Ulug’bek Khoshimov made it 2-0 in the 83rd minute after an error by Muhammad Abu Khalil.
After losing the first match, Malaysia who managed to make the quarterfinals in the 2018 edition, must bounce back against Vietnam at the same venue on Saturday before facing Kuwait in their final group match at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah next Tuesday.
Only the top two teams from each group qualify for the quarterfinals, thus have an opportunity to earn the three automatic slots available for the 2024 Paris Olympics while the fourth placed team will be involved in a play-off against Guinea in Paris (May).
