The national U16 squad won the Youth Cup – which is really for U19 players - when they beat Kuala Lumpur 1-0 in the final with the only goal of the match coming off Tamil Arasu.
Enroute, they had beaten Selangor 4-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals.
“Of course, it feels good to win the title but the truth is that we did not set out to put this team together to win the crown – the whole objective for these young players to play in a league several years their senior was more for exposure and experience,”
said head coach Ong Kim Swee.
The jubilant U-16 squad
“But for these players to win the title showed just how much of a progress they have made in these months where they have learned to stick to tactical discipline and also understanding game plan where for them to do it at this young age give promise for the future.
“The effort does not come from any one person alone but a whole cooperation of hardwork from Aminuddin (Hussin, head of FAM youth coaching), Robert (Alberts, the FAM Technical Director) and also the unwavering support from Institute Sains Negera (National Science Institute, specifically from its director Dr. Ramlan Aziz).”
Kim Swee said that the U16 lads will be reporting for camp next week before they unveil plans for the future development of this squad which is likely to include a trip to Brickendobury, England.
He said that the team will now need more quality matches to make sure that they are kept together for future assignments.
“The team will need more training and higher quality matches where I feel that if they can be kept together from now on, then Malaysia will have a ready pool of youngsters able to understand the needs of the modern game,” added Kim Swee.
Why does the FAM need to go all the way to ENGLAND to play high quality matches? Is it not possible to go to other Asian countries that play high quality football like South Korea, Japan, Iran or heck, even Vietnam and Singapore? Bloody hell, even Iraq play awesome football.
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