Harimau Malaya pins hopes on young players for 2019 Asian Cup qualifiers
The country is banking on these young ones to rise to the occasion when they take on Hong Kong tomorrow at the Hong Kong Stadium.
National coach Nelo Vingada has said that five players from the Under-22 squad must perform as four key players are unavailable this time round.
The absence of forwards Ahmad Hazwan Bakri and Muhammad Shahrel Fikri through injury, and Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak as well as Rizal Ghazali being suspended means that the young players are the country’s hope to collect all three points to stay in contention for qualification.
“Aidil and Rizal are serving suspensions, while Hazwan and Shahrel are out injured.
“It all looked bleak at first, but thankfully we have a pool of good, young players to call upon.
“So this is an ideal chance for them to prove themselves and it is likely that I will field them against Hong Kong,” said Vingada, when met after a national team training session at the Tseung Kwan O Sports Complex on Sunday.
Five players from the national Under-22 squad have been called up, namely goalkeeper Ifwat Akmal Chek Kassim (Kedah), Safawi Rasid (Darul Ta’zim), Matthew Davies and Nor Azam Abdul Azih (Pahang), Adam Nor Azlin (Selangor) and Syamer Kutty Abba (Penang).
However, Azam was no able to join the squad following health issues plaguing his sister.
From the training sessions, Vingada was seen trying out a few new tactical moves and plays by positioning Syamer and Adam in midfield and defence respectively.
“At present I am trying to gel the Under-22 players with the senior squad members.
From what I’ve seen in training, the young players are both eager and confident.
“If this stays, then I believe we can bank on our young players to do deliver the goods we need to win the match,” he said.
Comments
Post a Comment