Get tough, Elavarasan tells Under-23 boys

PETALING JAYA: Skills alone are not enough, the national Under-23 football players have been told to get aggressive as well.

Head coach E. Elavarasan has told his players to get more robust, just like the senior squad.

Being juniors, it was crucial for them to learn to play that way not only to help them stand out but also pave the way for them to join the senior squad in the future.

“When you are aggressive in any position, you will get the opportunity to make the senior squad.

“It’s the same everywhere. We must prepare our players based on this concept,” he said after the Under-23 team’s first centralised training session at the PKNS Sports Complex yesterday.

He said this was also the style of play preferred by Harimau Malaya head coach Kim Pan-gon.

Elavarasan, the assistant coach to the Korean, is confident he will be able to prepare his young squad for several tournaments next year.

The call-up for centralised training is part of Harimau Muda’s early preparations for a packed schedule next season.

Among the tournaments the team will be competing in are the AFF Under-23 championship in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China; and the 2024 Under-23 AFC Asian Cup/ Olympic Games qualifiers. — Bernama