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PHNOM PENH – The national men’s under-22 (U-22) squad is expected to face a difficult battle in their first Group B match against Laos tomorrow at the 2023 SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Head coach E. Elavarasan said that Laos will be going all out after suffering a 2-0 loss to Vietnam at Prince Stadium on Sunday.
“As Laos have lost their first game, they will of course have to make a comeback in the second game. I believe it’s going to be tough for us.
“Despite the defeat to Vietnam, I could see that Laos actually played well. They were just unlucky in their counter attacks,” he said upon arrival at Phnom Penh International Airport here today.
At the same time, he was tight-lipped on his strategy, also declining to comment on the opponents’ players who would be the major threat to his boys at Olympic Stadium tomorrow.
However, he hoped Malaysia would pick up three full points in the encounter against the squad coached by Michael Weiss.
He wants the national squad to adapt themselves quickly to the hot weather here before starting their campaign in the biennial games.
After Laos, Malaysia are down to meet Thailand (May 6) and Vietnam (May 8) before completing the group stage with Singapore (May 11).
If the national squad succeeds in clearing the group stage, they will play in the semi-finals on May 13 before the final or the third and fourth placing match on May 16.
Malaysia last took the gold medal in the 2011 edition in Jakarta when they beat the host team, but failed to repeat the same achievement in the 2017 edition in Kuala Lumpur after losing to Thailand in the final. – Bernama, May 2, 2023
