KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 (Bernama) -- National Under-16 team manager (U-16) Christopher Raj is ready to step down if Malaysia fails to qualify for the finals at the 2025 Asia Cup Under-17 Qualifier that is scheduled in Laos from Oct 19-26.
Christopher assured that the young squad will bounce back from the disappointment of failing to get past the group stages at the 2024 ASEAN Under-16 tournament that was held in Surakarta, Indonesia.
“Last year, the National U-17 squad managed to qualify for the 2023 Asia Cup Under-17 tournament. Therefore it will not be an impossible task to achieve a similar success.
“However, if the team fails, I will step down and allow someone else to take over the responsibility of hoisting the National squad to the highest level and continue the mission to the World Cup,” he said in a statement today.
Admitting that the failure in Indonesia was a bitter pill to swallow, Christopher added that he would take full responsibility for the results and achievements of coach Javier Jorda Ribera’s boys.
Yesterday, Malaysia lost 1-3 to Thailand in their final Group C action, a result that saw Malaysia fail to advance to the next stage (semifinal) after finishing third in the group with three points.
Champions of the three respective groups and the best positioned second placed team move into the semifinals, namely Group C winner Australia who managed seven points, the same as Thailand but with better goal average while Timor Leste finished last in the group.
Malaysia started the ASEAN Cup campaign in style by whipping Timor Leste 5-0 on June 23, but lost 0-2 to Australia on Wednesday, before yesterday’s outcome.
The last time Malaysia qualified for the semifinals was during the 2019 edition by emerging as the group winner after having edged Thailand 2-1.
In the 2025 Asia Cup Under-17 qualifier, Malaysia are drawn in Group H with Laos, United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.
Ten group winners and five best placed runner-up teams will advance to the finals scheduled from April 3-20 in Saudi Arabia.
-- BERNAMA
BERNAMA provides up-to-date authentic and comprehensive news and information which are disseminated via BERNAMA Wires; www.bernama.com; BERNAMA TV on Astro 502, unifi TV 631 and MYTV 121 IFLIX channels and BERNAMA Radio on FM93.9 (Klang Valley), FM107.5 (Johor Bahru), FM107.9 (Kota Kinabalu) and FM100.9 (Kuching) frequencies.
Follow us on social media :
Facebook : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatv, @bernamaradio
Twitter : @bernama.com, @BernamaTV, @bernamaradio
Instagram : @bernamaofficial, @bernamatvofficial, @bernamaradioofficial
TikTok : @bernamaofficial
