KUALA LUMPUR: The 1-4 defeat of the national Under-23 (U-23) squad to South Korea in the opening Group C match in the 2022 AFC U-23 Asian Cup in Tashkent Uzbekistan, yesterday was due to players giving too much opening to the opponents.
U-23 chief coach Brad Maloney conceded the weakness while emphasising that his boys did give the South Koreans a run for their money.
Maloney said in the first half, his boys displayed extraordinary discipline which inhibited the Koreans from scoring.
“I can say my players’ performance is something I can be proud, but then we gave them (South Korean) a couple of opportunities and they punished us in the end,” he said in a media conference after the match at Lokomotiv Stadium, Tashkent, yesterday.
The coach from Australia said in the second half, the national squad changed their style and it was fruitful when team captain Muhammad Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi succeeded in finding the net.
On the encounter with Thailand on Sunday, Maloney said he will review the drill of the national squad which managed to defeat the same opponents during the SEA Games, Hanoi in Vietnam.
Malaysia, who qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2018 edition in China, would be completing the group competition against 31st SEA Games gold medalist, Vietnam on June 8 to grab one of the top two places to enter the quarter-finals. – BERNAMA
