PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Under-23 football team captain and centreback Ubaidullah Samsul Fazili has urged his teammates to be sharper in front of goal as they prepare to face Mongolia in their second AFC U-23 Asian Cup qualifier tomorrow.
Nafuzi Zain’s side opened their Group F campaign with a disappointing 0-1 defeat to Lebanon on Wednesday despite dominating long spells of the match at the Thammasat Stadium in Rangsit, Thailand.
Lebanon’s Ali El Fadl struck in the 83rd minute to hand Malaysia a narrow loss after several missed opportunities from the young Tigers.
Reflecting on the setback, Ubaidullah stressed the need for improvement.
“We have to convert chances into goals. That is important because we have to score. We have to improve and try our level best to get full points,” said the skipper.
He added that Mongolia, who suffered a 0-6 defeat to hosts Thailand in their opening match, cannot be taken lightly.
“Mongolia are similar to us. We can’t underestimate them despite their result against Thailand. Maybe they had jet lag and did not have much rest.”
When asked about Negri Sembilan’s new signing, Mongolian defender Filip Chinzorig Andersen, Ubaidullah admitted he knew little about him.
“I do not know him. Plus he has not played in the league yet because he just joined Negri.
“For us, we don’t care about the identity of the players – we just want to play as a team.
“We have to win to have a brighter chance of going to the tournament.”
Despite the frustration of the opening defeat, Ubaidullah believes the team must remain positive.
“We have to support each other. We motivate ourselves too. We will focus on each game and see where it brings us.
“From the start until the last minute against Lebanon, we played well and controlled the game but we didn’t finish our chances.
“We were lackadaisical towards the end and conceded, hence the result.”
Malaysia’s path to qualification has become more difficult but it is still alive.
“To qualify, it is a bit tough but we still have the chance. We have to win our next two games, either as champion or one of the four best runners-up.
“The boys are truly disappointed because we didn’t deserve to lose. But this is football. We need to forget and look for a win against Mongolia.”
Looking ahead, the skipper insists the formula is simple.
“We have to maintain our gameplay and I believe we can be even better against Mongolia. We need to convert our chances, which is a problem.
“Plus we have to be really focused. I hope we can get goals and avoid lapses of concentration.”
Malaysia take on Mongolia on Saturday before rounding off their Group F fixtures against Thailand on Tuesday.
