In the final match, U23 Malaysia suffered a 1-2 defeat against U23 Kuwait – the team considered the weakest in Group D. Coach Garrido and his team had to play without players when goalkeeper Izhan received a red card at the end of the first half. They let Losing 2 goals but still persistently shortening the score. But that is not enough for U23 Malaysia to win 1 point.
This is also the only Southeast Asian team to lose in the 2024 U23 Asian finals. Previously, they lost with the same score of 0-2 to U23 Vietnam and U23 Uzbekistan.
U23 Malaysia lost all 3 matches.
In the past, U23 Vietnam also lost all 3 group stage matches in 2016. Two years later, it was Thailand’s U23’s turn to lose and had to return home early. Coincidentally, in 2022, U23 Malaysia is in the same group as U23 Vietnam and they also lost all 3 matches. In the 5 times the tournament took place, 4 times a Southeast Asian team did not win any points.
In 2024, Southeast Asia has 3 other representatives: U23 Thailand, U23 Vietnam and U23 Indonesia. Thailand U23 beat Iraq U23 on the opening day but lost the next 2 matches and were eliminated. U23 Vietnam and U23 Indonesia won the right to continue with 2 victories.
However, U23 Indonesia’s group is considered more difficult. The island team surprised everyone by winning against U23 Australia and U23 Jordan. In the quarterfinals, coach Shin Tae-yong and his team faced U23 Korea. There are not many opportunities for Marselino Ferdinan and his teammates to create surprises. Anyway, the Indonesian Football Federation still expressed their opinion that they want to win tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Meanwhile, U23 Vietnam ranked second in Group D and met U23 Iraq in the quarterfinals. At a time when Vietnamese football is facing many difficulties, the efforts of young players need to be recognized. But U23 Vietnam still leaves many worries in the defense stage. Coach Hoang Anh Tuan will have to make a lot of effort to correct his students’ errors.
