On target: The Malaysian Under-19 team players celebrating after scoring against Cambodia in a friendly match. — FAM
PETALING JAYA: There are still a few rough spots for the Malaysian Under-19 football team to iron out before they head to Surabaya for the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Tournament starting from July 17-29.
The side under the tutelage of Spaniard Juan Torres Garrido beat their Cambodian counterparts 4-2 in a friendly match at the UiTM Stadium on Saturday.
Team captain Ariff Safwan Safri said they performed well to get the win but they were not the complete package yet.
“Our performance was good, but there are still aspects to improve on. We have to be more disciplined when it comes to pressing our opponents and our finishing has to be better if we want to do well in the AFF tournament,’’ said Ariff.
“We were also slow at times to close down the spaces, especially during counter-attacks.’’
Malaysia’s goals were scored by Danish Hakimi Sahaludin (13th minute), Arami Wafiy Zakimi (25th), Amir Farhan Fuzi (52nd) and Izzat Syahir Zulishan (81st).
Cambodia replied through Phoeuk Thatthai (27th) and Uk Devin (31st).
Malaysia, who are the defending champions of the AFF tournament, are in Group C with Thailand, Singapore and Brunei. They open their campaign against Brunei at the Gelora 10 November Stadium on July 19.
There are three groups where the winners will qualify for the semi-finals, with the best runners-up occupying the final slot.
Meanwhile, Garrido is pleased with the progress of his players.
“They’ve shown good mental strength. The good thing is the quality between the first 11 and reserve players are quite the same and that gives me more options.’’
