National football squad running out of time - Team manager

KUALA LUMPUR: The lack of international football matches throughout the 2020 season has caused concerns for the Harimau Malaya squad, as two crucial 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup second-round qualifiers against the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Vietnam in March draw closer.

Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) deputy president cum national team manager Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mahadi admitted that the national squad had limited time to prepare and pick up where they left off in their Group G qualifying campaign.

Adding to his worry is the squad’s performance level and on-field cohesion among players after an entire year without any centralised training camps due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Realising that the UAE and Vietnam have made their own early preparations, Mohd Yusoff said head coach Tan Cheng Hoe and the national squad need to make the most of the upcoming centralised training camp from Jan 15 to 26, which will be the team’s first since November 2019.

“Honestly, there is some concern, but I hope that the coach has a comprehensive and detailed plan and can prepare the team even with such a short time available,” he told Bernama.

“The players also have to do their part, meaning this time around, they need to sacrifice and put in more than 100 per cent focus and use whatever time they have left as best as possible, so we can prepare a strong team,” he said.

After five matches, Malaysia is only two points behind Group G leaders, Vietnam who have 11 points, with Thailand in third (eight points), UAE fourth (six points) and Indonesia at the bottom of the table without any points.

Qualifying for the 2023 Asian Cup is the national squad’s mission in the FAM F:30 Roadmap and after defeating Thailand and Indonesia in the previous group matches, Malaysia is currently on track to qualify on merit for the first time since the 1980 Asian Cup in Kuwait.

In addition, Mohd Yusoff hoped that local teams and clubs would release their players to attend the national squad centralised training camp, especially during the pre-season preparation for the 2021 Malaysian League scheduled to begin in February.

“There isn’t much time left, we only have January, we’ve got a chance to prepare the players and Cheng Hoe will finally be with the team after more than a year, so I think we need to make the most of it.

“Let’s give him (Cheng Hoe) the chance to get the required players to attend the training camp this time, so that he can evaluate their performance and put together the best national team to compete in the qualifiers come March,” he added.

Malaysia is scheduled to take on the UAE in Dubai on Mar 25, before taking on Vietnam on Mar 30.

-- BERNAMA