TRIO TO HEAD MALAYSIA’S U20 CHALLENGE

Malaysia U20 head coach K. Rajagobal said that the trio will be the only players in the team with a lot of experience at the international level and where they will be looked at to provide much of the guidance for the others.

The three lads have been a consistent performer under Rajagobal where they featured in his plans in last year’s AFC Under-20 Championship in India.

“We might have been the runners-up at the last tournament in Palembang (when we lost the final to Myanmar) but don’t expect the same kind of showing this time round,” said Rajagobal (pic).

“This team is different because the majority of them have not been playing international matches in a consistent basis where the last time they played abroad was for the Hassanal Bolkiah Tournament which is really for players U21 when these lads are really U18.

“We have to be realistic on that aspect even though personally the team have a lot of potential for the future. “

Rajagobal said that the problem with the current side is that they can play well up to the midfield but beyond that, they struggle due to the lack of calibre strikers.

Nevertheless, Rajagobal felt that the team should be given the chance to prove themselves in the AFF meet where they will be up against Singapore, Laos, Myanmar and Brunei in Group A.

“Despite of what has been said about Malaysian football of late, the hope is still in the youth. They are still eager to play for Malaysia and we should not destroy their hopes and dreams,” added Rajagobal, whose team will open their campaign against Singapore on 1st August, 2007.

MALAYSIAN NATIONAL UNDER-20 SQUAD

K. Sasikumar, Mohd Irfan Abdul Ghani, Safril Hafizzie Safari, Tan Yang Wei, Yusaini Che Saad, Adnan Abu Shah, Mohd Aliff Shamsudin, Firdaus Azizul, Muhammad Syahid Zaidon, Ahmad Fakri Saarani, Mohd Nazrin Baharuddin, Mohd Syazwan Zainon, Mohd Akmal Muhammad Noor, Mohd Salawi Ahmad Jasad, K. Sathiya, Mahali Jasuli, K. Gurusamy, Ahmad Aminuddin Shahrudin, Mohd Afiize Faizal Mamat, Hariri Mohd Safii, Mohd Faizal Muhammad, Mohd Shaiful Hazmi Salleh, Abdul Shukur Yusoff, Mohd Muslim Ahmad, Mohd Shazlan Alias.