KUALA LUMPUR – The national Under-23 (U-23) squad need to be more careful when they meet defending champions Vietnam in the semi-finals of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) 2023 U-23 Championship tomorrow, said coach E. Elavarasan (picture).

He said Vietnam have good players and that their coach is smart in making plans and decisions.

“The coach is the strong point, he will always knows what to do. I really admire the coach and I hope next game, I want everybody enjoy the game and focus on our mission to win its,” he said in an audio message to the media today.

At the same time, Elavarasan said the match will be a big challenge for Malaysia since the Harimau Muda have not faced Vietnam for a long time.

The last time the Harimau Muda met Vietnam was at the 2022 Hanoi SEA Games when Malaysia narrowly lost 0-1.

If the Harimau Muda squad record a victory in the match against Vietnam at the Rayong Provincial Stadium in Rayong, Thailand, waiting for them in the final will either be Thailand or Indonesia who will be playing in the other semi-final match.

Malaysia’s best achievement at the AFF U-23 Championship was finishing fourth in the inaugural edition in 2005. – BERNAMA