Clock’s ticking: Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili (second from right) says the Under-23 squad are working hard to improve over the next three days before the opening Group D match against Uzbekistan on Thursday. — FAM
PETALING JAYA: Conceding three penalties in two friendly matches is a cause for concern.
And national defender Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili wants the Under-23 team’s porous defence dilemma to be addressed quickly before the start of the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup from tomorrow to May 3 in Doha, Qatar.
Malaysia will take on Uzbekistan in the opening Group D match on Thursday followed by Vietnam (April 20) and Kuwait (April 23).
In the friendlies as lead up to the Olympic Games qualifier, Malaysia lost 1-2 to China on April 4 and 1-0 to Qatar on April 7.
China got both their goals through penalty kicks from Aifeiderding Aisikaer while Ahmed Husham slotted it in for the home team. Ubaidullah wants his teammates to tighten their grip at the back end and avoid giving penalty kicks to the opposing team in the tournament.
“We have to be more careful, especially in our defence, because we gave away three penalties in the last two friendly matches,” said Ubaidullah, the Terengganu defender.
“We can’t afford to repeat this in bigger competitions.”
The Harimau Muda, coached by Spaniard Juan Torres Garrido, have been training in Doha for the last 12 days.
“Our performance is still not good and we are working hard to see what we can do to improve over the next three days before our first match,” he added.
The top two teams in the group will advance to the quarter-finals.
Garrido will also be relieved that he will have his key players – midfielders Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi and Nooa Laine, and defenders Azam Azmi Murad and Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar – back in his side to prepare for the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup.
The four were part of the senior team for the World Cup 2026-Asian Cup 2027 second round qualifiers against Oman recently.
