KUALA LUMPUR – Young Tigers head coach Brad Maloney was gushing in his praise after watching his charges check into the 2022 Under-23 Asian Cup Finals for only the second time since the 2018 edition.
The national Under-23 football team head coach, who guided them to the top of Group J in the qualifiers held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, was proud that his boys not only finished their three-match campaign unbeaten, but also without conceding a single goal.
“Fantastic achievement with this group of players, I have incredible belief in this group of players. They performed very well and very professionally throughout the tournament.
“We didn’t concede even one goal in the whole tournament. Of course, I cannot be proud enough with this group,” he said in the post-match press conference after completing their group fixture with a 0-0 draw against Thailand at the Mongolian Football Federation (MFF) Stadium earlier today.
A video clip of the press conference was obtained from the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).
Malaysia topped Group J with seven points after identical 1-0 wins earlier over Laos and Mongolia. Thailand finished second with five points, followed by Laos (three points) and Mongolia (one point).
A total of 16 teams will play in the fifth edition of the Under-23 Asian Cup Finals, scheduled to be held in Uzbekistan from June 1-19 next year.
Commenting on their preparations for the qualifiers, Maloney said they faced a lot of challenges, including having to change their plans a few times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had a lot of plans in place earlier but, with the pandemic, we had to change most of them… we had to adjust. We had two weeks of preparation in Kuala Lumpur prior to coming to Mongolia.
“We were the last team to arrive here (Ulaanbaatar). Upon arrival, we started working on our mission, fighting for our principles and achieving what we want to achieve,” he said as he thanked the MFF for hosting the qualifiers despite the challenges posed by the pandemic.
Malaysia last qualified for the Finals of the tournament, which began in 2013, in 2018 when it was held in China. Then, coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee’s players made it as far as the quarter-finals before crashing out 2-1 to South Korea.
