RAYONG (17 August 2023) – Indonesia head coach Shin Tae-yong feels that the AFF Under-23 Championship will be a good opportunity to test other players.
The Korean tactician said this at the Pre Match Press Conference this morning for Group B.
“Our preparation has not been well as the league is ongoing and I could not bring many players,” said Tae-yong.
“But having said that, it is a good opportunity for the other players to get a shot at playing for the national team. So I am looking forward to seeing what they can offer.”
Indonesia, the recently crowned SEA Games champions, were winners in 2019 while at the last edition in 2022, they did not take part.
And tomorrow, Indonesia will open their campaign against fierce rivals Malaysia in a match that is expected to be nothing short of explosive.
“We are basically in the same situation as our league is also ongoing. For us, the objective is to get the best results with the new players that we have brought,” said Malaysia head coach E. Elavarasan.
“We will be using this tournament to test players for the AFC qualifiers. It is a process for the team, so this will be a good experience for us.”
Other than Indonesia and Malaysia, the other team in the three-team Group B is Timor Leste.
“We have been training well and we have added some new players as well. Just like Indonesia and Malaysia, we could not bring all the players that we wanted,” said Timor Leste head coach Park Soon-tae.
“We are at a different stage of development so for me, I would like to show the colours of Timor Leste football here.”
AFF UNDER-23 CHAMPIONSHIP 2023
GROUP B – FIXTURE
18 August 2023 – Rayong Provincial Stadium
2000hrs: Malaysia vs Indonesia
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