At the 2024 AFC U23 Championship, Malaysia U23 is in Group D with Vietnam U23, Uzbekistan and Kuwait. In terms of strength and achievements, Malaysia U23 is the team that is rated the lowest in the group. However, Mr. Noor Azman is confident: “It doesn’t matter if we are in the same group as Vietnam U23, Uzbekistan U23, Kuwait U23. As you can see, Malaysia U23 has had great friendly matches recently, the results are also very positive and that certainly makes the opponents not to be underestimated.
Defeating the teams in the same group, having positive results to enter the round of 16 of the U.23 Asia is the dream of any player. One of the top 2 positions in Group D, that is our goal in the upcoming tournament. However, let's wait for the statements from the coach and coaching staff of U.23 Malaysia, see what they will bring. Surely the changes will make many opponents struggle."
Mr. Noor Azman is very confident that U.23 Malaysia will pass the group stage of U.23 Asia.
Malaysia U.23 is currently led by coach Juan Torres Garrido. The Spanish coach was the head of talent scouting at FC Barcelona from 2016 to 2020, before leading the Granada U.23 team in Spain from 2021 to 2022.
Starting from March 17, Mr. Juan Torres Garrido announced the list of U.23 Malaysia players. According to Malaysian media, at first, the young players of this country had to struggle to keep up with the training program of Coach Juan Torres Garrido. The 44-year-old coach focuses on technique and small passing style of play - things that young Malaysian players had little access to before.
The changes of coach Juan Torres Garrido also quickly brought positive results. In the last 2 friendly matches with U.23 India, U.23 Malaysia had 1 win and 1 draw (won 2-1 on March 23 and drew 1-1 on March 26). Both matches were played behind closed doors at Kuala Lumpur Stadium and U.23 Malaysia had a superior ball possession time compared to U.23 India's 32%.
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Mr. Noor Azman further revealed that on April 1, U.23 Malaysia will begin moving to Qatar, where the U.23 Asian Cup will take place. FAM hopes that the early arrival in Qatar will help U.23 Malaysia players quickly get used to the weather, competition conditions and time zone. At the same time, U.23 Malaysia will continue to have friendly matches with strong opponents such as U.23 China (April 3) and U.23 Qatar (April 6 or 7).
In addition, FAM is still trying to find a strong team for coach Juan Torres Garrido and the players to compete against on April 10 or 11.
U.23 Malaysia just had a positive result against U.23 India in a closed friendly match.
Before leaving for Qatar, U.23 Malaysia also received good news when 4 players, midfielder Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi, Nooa Laine, defender Azam Azmi Murad, Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar, joined the team. Previously, these players were absent because they had to play with the Malaysian team against Oman in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. These are all typical young players of Malaysian football and are highly appreciated by coach Juan Torres Garrido. It is expected that they will also be key players of U.23 Malaysia in the upcoming tournament.
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Coach Juan Torres Garrido excitedly shared: “In an optimal situation, you would like to have your entire team from the start but we understand the situation. These players will definitely add quality to the U.23 Malaysia team. I have been working with the players for a week and they have shown good fitness and attitude.
With the four key players joining, I can make a better overall assessment and decide what is the best plan for the tournament in Qatar. Obviously, the goal of U.23 Malaysia is to get through the group stage.”
Coach Juan Torres Garrido has all his best players and is ready to go to Qatar.
The AFC U23 Championship will take place from April 15 to May 3, 2024 in Qatar. Malaysia U23 will start the tournament with a match against Uzbekistan U23 (April 17), Vietnam U23 (April 20) and Kuwait U23 (April 23).
Notably, this is the second consecutive U.23 Asian tournament that U.23 Malaysia is in the same group as U.23 Vietnam. At the 2022 U.23 Asian tournament, U.23 Malaysia is also in Group C with U.23 Vietnam, Korea and Thailand. In the final round, U.23 Vietnam excellently defeated U.23 Malaysia 2-0 to win second place in the group, advancing to the quarterfinals. The U.23 Vietnam team has just changed coaches. Coach Troussier has left the chair, coach Hoang Anh Tuan has taken his place.
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