COACH The Malaysian U-23 National Team, Brad Maloney, underestimated the U-23 Indonesian National Team ahead of participating in the 2021 Vietnam SEA Games in mid next month. The Australian tactician said that the Indonesian U-23 national team made by Shin Tae-yong was not the top winner in the biennial multi-sport event.
Wednesday (6/4/2022), the draw for the 2021 SEA Games men’s soccer sport was held. The draw results put the hosts Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Timor Leste in Group A.
(Indonesian U-23 National Team has undergone training camp)
Then, Group B is occupied by Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore and Laos. The legendary Vietnamese footballer, Pham Thanh Luong, named Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand as candidates to win the 2021 SEA Games.
“Thailand is still the main competitor for the gold medal with Vietnam U-23 and also Indonesia. Indonesia has made great progress. Thailand and Indonesia are two teams that are directly competing with us for the gold medal,” said the player who brought Vietnam to win the 2008 AFF Cup, quoting from The Thao 247.
However, Pham Thanh Luong’s statement is not in line with Brad Maloney’s thoughts. He did not mention Indonesia as a champion candidate. Instead of entering the name of Indonesia, Brad Maloney even called the Philippines a team that has the potential to appear dangerous.
“Thailand will be strong because they have several players who are good in Europe. Likewise with the defending champion Vietnam,” said Brad Maloney quoting from the New Straits Times, Saturday (9/4/2022).
“We cannot underestimate the Philippines, which has a number of naturalized players. Likewise, Cambodia and Laos are developing with a number of their young players,” continued Brad Maloney.
