KUALA LUMPUR: FA of Malaysia (FAM) technical director Scott O'Donell has attributed the national Under-16 team's failure to qualify for the 2025 Under-17 Asian Cup Finals to the absence of Under-15 and Under-16 national leagues.
He said Malaysia will continue to struggle to qualify for the Under-17 Asian Cup if there is no permanent platform for the country's best young players to showcase their talent and play in a competitive environment.
He also emphasised the need for a bigger talent base for selection and not just rely on Akademi Mokhtar Dahari (AMD) and the Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) Academy to produce the players.
"If we have national Under-15 and Under-16 leagues, it will allow the players to show their abilities throughout the season.
"This will enable the coaches and talent spotters to watch and identify potential players nationwide throughout the season and not base their judgment on a one-off match or a friendly.
"This aligns with my proposal to add more matches in the Youth Cup and President's Cup competitions," he said in a statement today.
He said that based on the current national age group league structure, the tournaments are the Minister of Education (MOE) Under-14 League; MOE-FAM Under-17 Cup League; Under-18 Youth Cup; and Under-20 President's Cup.
However, there are no national leagues for Under-15 and Under-16 and, as such, no proper platform to pick the best players to represent the national Under-16 team for the Under-17 Asian Cup qualifiers.
"Our young players need to play more competitive matches to experience the pressure and learn of the consequences of their mistakes, such as being yellow carded, conceding a penalty, giving away unnecessary fouls and being profligate.
"Our youngsters need to gain experience playing under pressure to help them prepare in the best possible way to step up to the international or professional level," said O'Donell.
In the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-17 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Laos recently, the national team, under coach Javier Jorda Ribera, finished second in Group H after losing 2-0 to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and drawing 2-2 with the hosts, thus failing to qualify for the final round. – BERNAMA