Overseas stint for U-15 football squad must be continued — chief coach

SEPANG: The Under-15 (U-15) national football squad needs to be exposed with more competitions abroad to improve the quality of their game, said chief coach, Mohd Armi Shariff.

He said several friendly matches and contests in continental Europe that ended two days ago clearly helped to strengthen the squad’s performance under the National Football Development Programme (NFDP).

“Through some friendly matches in the European continent, I saw the players were more confident to compete with European players and they are actually capable of giving a great challenge, but our expectations (coaches) are more exposure for them.

Mohd Armi was speaking to reporters after the team’s arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), from Dubai yesterday.

In the meantime, one of the national U-15 squad players, Muhammad Aznil Hafiz Azhar acknowledged the many experiences he had obtained during a month of travelling with 26 other players on the European continent.

He is among some of the national U-15 squad players who were given the opportunity to undergo a fourday training with renowned Dutch club AZ Alkmaar.

“During the one month in Europe, I collected a lot of experience and I am lucky because I gleaned many things and football techniques from football players there,” he explained.

For the record, the U-15 squad emerged as champions of the RKVVL/Polaris Junior Championship in Maastricht, Netherlands on May 26 and were third in the 34th International CJunioren Football Tournament in Hollage, Germany from May 2021.

The squad which was in continental Europe since May 14, recorded two victories and two defeats in four friendly matches. - Bernama