PETALING JAYA: Malaysia Under-23 football team coach Nafuzi Zain admitted that preparations for the Thailand SEA Games have been significantly hampered by the absence of several key players, who have yet to be released by their respective clubs.
Nafuzi revealed that he currently has only 16 players available in camp, with others still tied to club commitments involving Selangor, Terengganu, Penang and Sabah.
“In terms of preparation, we are definitely affected. Right now, I only have 16 players in training because the others are still with their respective clubs,” he said.
“It is a massive challenge for me to handle this situation but as a coach, I cannot run away from it. We have to accept the challenge and prepare as much as we can with the players we have.”
Nafuzi acknowledged the clubs’ stance, saying their reluctance to release key players was understandable given the ongoing domestic and international competitions.
Also, the SEA Games are not part of the FIFA international calendar, so clubs are not obligated to release their players.
He pointed to several cases that have complicated Malaysia’s SEA Games build-up.
“We are in a difficult position because club coaches understandably want to use their best players,” he explained.
“For example, Haziq (Kutty Abba) is in the first eleven for Penang. Selangor allow releases, but it depends on the situation as they have their own tournament commitments, especially with their continental competitions.”
The situation is further complicated by fixture clashes involving Terengganu, which could see national Under-23 captain Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili miss the opening match.
Terengganu are set to play Kuching City in the Super League on Friday, just a day before Malaysia’s SEA Games opener against Laos on Saturday.
“Ubaidullah, who joined us for the training camp, might not be available for the first game because Terengganu will take on Kuching City in the Super League on Friday, whereas our first game is against Laos on Saturday,” Nafuzi said.
He added that striker Fergus Tierney’s availability remained uncertain due to his commitments with Sabah and also them being in the FA Cup final against Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) on Dec 14, placing further strain on the squad.
“We are also waiting on Fergus, whose availability is still ‘maybe’. We might lose two or three players at the start. Since we had to register the squad early, we cannot change the registration list now unless there is a legitimate injury.”
Despite the challenges, Nafuzi insisted that the team’s objective remains unchanged.
“Despite the issues, the target remains clear — we want to reach the semi-finals.
“To do that, we have to win our first game against Laos,” he said.
