KUALA LUMPUR — Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin has reminded the national Under-23 (U-23) squad to rise up and pull off a surprise in the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers in Chonburi, Thailand, next month.
Hamidin said the players in the Harimau Muda squad had shown improvement, and believed that Malaysia could be a team to be reckoned with in the region if E. Elavarasan’s men continued their focus.
He also reminded the country’s young players not to underestimate the ability of the opposing teams in Group H of the competition which consists of Thailand, Bangladesh and the Philippines.
“As a national player, you have to give more than 100%. When playing for the country, you should all share the same goal of bringing pride to the nation.
“The opportunity to represent Malaysia should not be wasted and I hope you will all be able to make history in Chonburi,” he said in a post on the FAM’s Facebook page today.
Earlier, Hamidin spent some time meeting the players and officials of the national U-23 squad in conjunction with the first day of the central training camp ahead of the 2023 U-23 Asian Cup qualifiers here.
Malaysia will kick off their qualifying campaign against Bangladesh on September 6, followed by the Philippines (September 9) and Thailand (September 12).
All the group winners along with the top four runners-up will qualify for the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup in Qatar which also offers a slot for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Last week, Harimau Muda finished the 2023 Asean Football Federation (AFF) U-23 Championship in fourth place, thus failing to reach the target of making it to the final. — August 30, 2023