PETALING JAYA: Coach E. Elavarasan is under fire despite leading his Under-23 team for a spot in the AFC Asian Cup next year but he is cool with it.
Lack of tactics was evident in the team’s 0-1 defeat to Thailand on Tuesday in the final Group H match in Chonburi.
It was the team’s first defeat in the group after scoring wins against Bangladesh and the Philippines. They made the cut despite losing to the Thais as they beat Iran on points to finish as one of the top four second-ranked best teams for the Asian meet in Doha, Qatar, from April 15-May 3.
Rather than focusing on his critics, the 61-year-old, who is known for his no-nonsense training approach, believes he can lead them in the Asian Cup.
“Criticisms on me? For me, no problem. This is a process to build a team. It takes time. We have to praise them in the first two games. We qualified for the Asian Cup, that’s important,” he said.
Elavarasan has also been called out for under-utilising his star players.
“Do our players have the quality to bring it to the next level? Yes we have what it takes to do so,” he said.
“Our qualification to the next level will motivate our young players to have the ambition to go far in their careers.
Elavarasan’s challenge now is to keep the team together as his boys would head to their respective clubs now to play in the league.
He hopes during the international FIFA calendar, he will be able to hold training camps and friendly matches.
“We will ask the clubs to release the players for centralised camps. Only during the FIFA period, we can gather them.
“Who we call up will depend on the clubs. Clubs pay these players. So they have the right. We have the right to invite them but the clubs will decide.”
Team manager Datuk Seri Shahril Mokhtar said they would discuss with the Malaysian Football League (MFL) and the clubs to come out with the best solutions.
“We have six months more but it is not long. FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) have to discuss with MFL and clubs to release the boys. Most of these boys are playing in the Super League,” said Shahril.
“We have to find a way to hold competitive friendly matches.
“People can say anything but Oman, Tajikistan, and Iran didn’t qualify but we did. Their senior teams are ranked higher than us. Give us six more months, I believe this team can go far. “
Malaysia also qualified for the Under-23 Asian Cup twice – at the 2018 (quarter-finals) and 2022 (group stage) in China and Uzbekistan respectively.
The top three teams from the Under-23 Asian Cup will qualify for next year’s Paris Olympic Games.
