FAM needs to improve performance of national squad - Ahmad Faizal

Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said the 1-2 defeat to the team considered as 'minnows' should be taken seriously, and a post-mortem should be done by the relevant parties.

"Football is a very popular sport in our country and a large number of people enjoy this sport, but when it comes to international tournaments, we don't do so well. I hope FAM together with the football community across the country can work closely together to find ways on how to improve the performance of our team.

"It needs to begin with how to develop new talent and succeed in setting up a quality team and so on, to ensure that we do not lose to a weaker team," he said.

He was met by reporters at the final match of the 2022 Peja Trophy Football Championship at the Chenderiang state constituency level played at the Batang Padang Sports Complex here today.

The national U-23 squad under Head Coach Brad Maloney opened their 2022 AFF U-23 Championship campaign in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with a disappointing result after losing 1-2 to Laos at Prince Stadium, on Friday.

However, Malaysia, who are fielding the 'second' team in the tournament, will once again meet Laos in the final group match at the same venue tomorrow, with a mission to win with a two-goal advantage to brighten the chances of advancing to the semi-finals as Group B champions.

For the record, the 1-2 defeat was Malaysia's first defeat in the last six meetings against Laos in the U-23 tournament since 2014.