Coach Hodak to use his regulars in AFF U-19 Championship

PETALING JAYA: National Under19 coach Bojan Hodak will not tinker with the team too much in the AFF Under-19 Championship in Indonesia from July 1- 14.

Hodak have called-up 26-players for the centralised training camp at the Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya from June 19-29 and will drop three players before they fly off to Surabaya.

Malaysia are drawn in Group B with Myanmar, Timor Leste, Cambodia and Brunei in the AFF Under-19 Championship.

The team’s tour of Bangkok last week comprising second stringers failed to win in all three friendlies.

They suffered an identical 2-0 losses to Thailand Under-19 and Chonburi youth team before being held to a goalless draw by Assumption United.

Hodak said that he will take one match at a time in the tournament and there is no need to experiment in the AFF tournament as he will have his regulars back in the team.

“They know what I want so it will be OK,” said Hodak who returned from Croatia yesterday.

“The result in our stint in Bangkok was not the best but I see that the second stringers showing their abilities, we played with different style and it was among the reason why the results were not very good.”

“We will have three good game in Indonesia and it will be good for the boys, we want to do well there but our main target this year is to have a strong outing in the AFC Under-19 Championship also in Indonesia from Oct 18-Nov 4.”

The 47-year-old coach said that he will be focusing on brushing up their set pieces and basic tactics before flying off to Surabaya.

“We only have a couple of days to prepare and some of the players who are regular with their M-League teams will not be with us so nothing major can be done at this centralised training,” said Hodak.