Reliable: Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi is one of the stalwarts for the national Under-23 team. — Photo by FAM
PETALING JAYA: Despite not having European-based players like Nooa Laine and Richard Chin, Malaysia Under-23 coach Juan Torres Garrido is happy with the squad he has for China.
The youngsters will be heading to Shanghai, China to play the Chinese Under-23 team on Dec 23 and 26 as they prepare for the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup in Qatar next year.
There will be no Laine and Richard as the games are played during the non-FIFA-calendar period and both players have commitments with their respective clubs.
Luqman Hakim Shamsudin, who is with KV Kortrijk, was allowed to join the team as he is not part of their league squad and just returned on loan from Iceland club Njardvik.
Garrido is not scratching his head though as he still has some top-quality young talents from the Super League at his disposal.
Even injury setbacks to defenders Azam Azmi Murad and Ubaidullah Samsul Fazili will not impact the squad’s quality.
“First, it is great we managed to get international friendlies against China.
“It was planned at the last minute and the domestic league season has ended, so we can call up the players that we need,” he said.
“We didn’t have a long time to train in Malaysia but we will have a longer time to train, learn and get competitive matches in Shanghai. The aim is for the Asian Cup and these matches will help us.
“Nooa and Richard can’t join us because they have commitments with their respective clubs. But we still have important players like midfielder Mukhairi (Ajmal Mahadi), wingback Ruven (Ruventhiran), winger Sara (T. Saravanan) and defender Safwan (Mazlan).”
For Garrido, facing top quality opposition is a must in their bid to do well in the continental stage with two more training cycles left before the tournament, which starts on Apr 15 and ends on May 3.
He said the China Under-23, led by Dejan Durdevic, will be a good learning experiece for the boys.
“It’s difficult. Every team and every game is different.
We asked the players to be humble. We must start this round of training well and then improve the next.
“We need consistent improvements. Our senior team are nice examples to follow. Their path is our inspiration.”
