PETALING JAYA: National Under-23 football team coach E. Elavarasan is taking a leaf out of South Korean Kim Pan-gon’s book as he prepares his charges for the 2023 Asean Football Federation (AFF) Under-23 Championship in Rayong, Thailand, from Aug 17-26.
Elavarasan could be seen employing the methods used by national coach Pan-gon in terms of game play during the centralised training sessions.
He said the national team game module would the most suitable to prepare the players for the tournament, where Malaysia have yet to reach the final.
The country’s best achievement in the AFF Under-23 Championship was fourth place in the first edition in 2005.
“We’ll be using the module from the national team because we want to make sure that the pathway from the junior to the senior squad is smooth. And we also believe that the national team DNA would only help us go further,” said Elavarasan.
“Despite the short training camp, I believe we have selected the players that best fit the module that we want to play. Despite the tournament being held outside of the FIFA calendar, clubs have cooperated in releasing their players.
“Our target is to reach the final. We didn’t hit the heights we wanted during the SEA Games, so we hope to make amends in the AFF tournament and bring that momentum to the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup qualifiers next month.”
Elavarasan started the centralised training with 12 players, with 13 more set to report today after the Super League matches.
Malaysia have been drawn in Group B with Timor Leste and 2023 SEA Games champions Indonesia.
Group A comprises hosts Thailand, Cambodia, Brunei and Myanmar while Group C is made up of defending champions Vietnam, the Philippines and Laos.
The champions of each group and the best second-placed team will advance to the semi-finals.
