Malaysia national under-22 football team

Malaysia U-22
Nickname(s)Harimau Muda
(Young Tigers)
AssociationFootball Association of Malaysia
ConfederationAFC (Asia)
Sub-confederationAFF (Southeast Asia)
Head coachNafuzi Zain
CaptainHaykal Danish
Home stadiumBukit Jalil National Stadium
FIFA codeMAS
First colours
Second colours

Malaysia national under-22 football team (also known as Malaysia Under-22, Malaysia U-22 or Malaysia B-22) represents Malaysia in international football competitions including in the SEA Games of the 2017 edition. It is managed by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM). This team was created for the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship qualification, 2017 SEA Games and participated in the 2019 AFF U-22 Youth Championship.[1][2]

History

After Harimau Muda project disbanded in 2015, FAM needed a fresh start for the U-23 team where a new set of players was brought in for the team with the creation of SEA Games Project 2017 team which was then announced as the national under-22 team.[1][3] The players in the current team mainly consist of players with age around 18 to 21 years old where the oldest players will be below the age requirement of 22 years old when 2017 SEA Games in Malaysia started.[1] With bigger pool of players within age of 18-22, the team will also play in other age-restricted tournament as the younger side such as U-21 and U-22 when needed.

The team is considered to be the feeder team for the Malaysia national football team. It is for players under the age of 22 and less. Also in existence are national teams for Under-19s, Under-16s and Under-14s. As long as they are eligible, players can play at any level, hence it is possible for one to play for the U-22s, senior side and then again for the U-22s.

Frank Bernhardt era

Frank Bernhardt has been announced as the new head coach for the newly created Malaysia under-22 national football team in preparation for 2017 Southeast Asian Games. The 46-year-old began his new job as national under-22 boss on Monday at Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) headquarters in Kelana Jaya. His first task is to pick an assistant from four candidates—Hassan Sazali, P. Maniam, Reduan Abdullah and Azlan Johar. And then Bernhardt will choose a squad of 25 players to work with ahead of the SEA Games football tournament on home soil in August 2017.[4]

25 players, including President's Cup players from DRB-Hicom and Sime Darby were picked to join the U22 national team third training camp.[5]

Tournament records

AFC U-22 Championship

Note: AFC U-22 in 2013.
AFC U-22 Championship Record AFC U-22 qualification Record Head coach
Year Round GP W D L GF GA Pld W D L GF GA
Oman 2013 did not qualify 5 3 0 2 17 7 Malaysia Ong Kim Swee
Total Best: None 5 3 0 2 17 7

SEA Games

Note: All Malaysian participants from U-22 since 31 March 2016 are only for SEA Games.
SEA Games Record
Year Round Position GP W D* L GS GA
Malaysia 2017 Runners-up 2/11 6 5 0 1 11 5
Total Best: Runners-up 1/1 6 5 0 1 11 5
*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
**Red border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy record

Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah Trophy
Year Round GP W D L GS GA
2002 Third Place 5 2 0 3 13 9
2005 Group Stage 4 2 0 2 3 7
2007 Third Place 4 1 1 2 4 7
Total Best: Third Place 13 5 1 7 20 23

Recent results

  Win   Draw   Lose

2019

AFF U-22 Youth Championship (17–26 February)

18 February 2019 (2019-02-18) Group stage   0–1  Cambodia Phnom Penh, Cambodia
18:30 UTC+7 Report Rosib 62' Stadium: Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh
Attendance: 3,875
Referee: Nguyễn Hiền Triết (Vietnam)
20 February 2019 (2019-02-20) Group stage Indonesia  2–2   Phnom Penh, Cambodia
15:30 UTC+7 Marinus 52'
Witan 77'
Report Nik Akif 62'
Hadi 86'
Stadium: Olympic Stadium, Phnom Penh
Attendance: 600
Referee: Steve Supresencia (Philippines)
22 February 2019 (2019-02-22) Group stage   1–0  Myanmar Phnom Penh, Cambodia
18:30 UTC+7 Hadi 45' Report Stadium: RSN Stadium
Attendance: 115
Referee: Sivakorn Pu-udom (Thailand)

2023

Merlion Cup (24–26 March)

24 March 2023 (2023-03-24) Semi Final Cambodia  2–4   Singapore
17:00 UTC+8 Lim Pisoth 36'
Sieng Chanthea 51'
Report Haqimi Azim 13'
V. Ruventhiran 30'
Fergus Tierney 62'
Najmudin Akmal 73'
Stadium: Jalan Besar Stadium
Referee: Clarence Leow (Singapore)
26 March 2023 (2023-03-26) Final Hong Kong  1–2  Malaysia Singapore
21:15 UTC+8 Lau Ka Kiu 80' Report Najmudin Akmal 74'
Safwan Mazlan 79'
Stadium: Jalan Besar Stadium
Referee: Ahmad A'Qashah (Singapore)

2023 Southeast Asian Games (29 April–17 May)

3 May 2023 Group stage   5–1  Laos Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Stadium: Prince Stadium
6 May 2023 Group stage   0–2  Thailand Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Stadium: Prince Stadium
8 May 2023 Group stage   1–2  Vietnam Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Stadium: Prince Stadium
11 May 2023 Group stage   7–0  Singapore Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Stadium: Prince Stadium

2025

Players

Current squad

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Syahmi Adib Haikal (2003-03-30) 30 March 2003 1 0 Malaysia Negeri Sembilan
23 1GK Haziq Aiman (2005-01-19) 19 January 2005 0 0 Malaysia Melaka

2 2DF Faris Danish (2006-07-04) 4 July 2006 0 0 Malaysia Johor Darul Ta'zim II
3 2DF Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili (2003-11-30) 30 November 2003 1 0 Malaysia Terengganu
4 2DF Alif Ahmad (2003-01-02) 2 January 2003 0 0 Malaysia Johor Darul Ta'zim II
5 2DF Shafizan Arshad (2005-08-15) 15 August 2005 0 0 Malaysia Johor Darul Ta'zim II
6 2DF Arif Ilham (2003-09-28) 28 September 2003 0 0 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur City
14 2DF Aiman Hakimi (2005-01-28) 28 January 2005 0 0 Malaysia Selangor
21 2DF Muhammad Ariq Darius (2010-01-31) 31 January 2010 0 0 Qatar Al-Rayyan Academy

7 3MF Haykal Danish (captain) (2005-05-05) 5 May 2005 0 0 Malaysia Selangor
8 3MF Muhammad Khalil (2005-04-11) 11 April 2005 0 0 Cambodia Angkor Tiger
10 3MF Leonel Pérez (2004-08-09) 9 August 2004 0 0 Argentina Huracán
13 3MF Isaiah Teng (2008-02-13) 13 February 2008 0 0 Argentina Vélez Sarsfield
15 3MF Mauricio Benítez (2004-02-03) 3 February 2004 0 0 Argentina Boca Juniors
17 3MF Dylan Tellado (2005-10-09) 9 October 2005 0 0 United States Harvard Crimson

11 4FW Najmuddin Akmal (2003-01-11) 11 January 2003 1 1 Malaysia Johor Darul Ta'zim
18 4FW Fergus Tierney (2003-03-19) 19 March 2003 1 1 Malaysia Sabah
19 4FW Nabil Qayyum (2004-02-25) 25 February 2004 0 0 Malaysia Selangor
20 4FW Rahman Daud (2004-12-04) 4 December 2004 0 0 Malaysia Selangor
22 4FW Haqimi Azim (2003-01-06) 6 January 2003 1 1 Malaysia Kuala Lumpur City

Team officials

Roles Names Appointment date
Team Management
CEO Canada Rob Friend[6][7] 31 December 2024[8]
Deputy CEO Malaysia Stanley Bernard 15 April 2025
Coaching Staff
Head coach Malaysia Nafuzi Zain 16 December 2024
Assistant coach South Korea Koo Ja-cheol
Wales Ryan Giggs
Malaysia Hairuddin Omar 5 January 2025
Malaysia Shukor Adan 12 October 2023
Singapore Hazzuwan Halim
Goalkeeping coach Japan Eiji Kawashima
Fitness coach Malaysia Khairal Afiq
Doctor Malaysia Ridzuan Azmi
Physiotherapist Japan Masaaki Taira
Malaysia Harris Zafran Ahmad Haraman
Masseur Malaysia Ahmad Ramzi Ahmad Zaini
Kitman Malaysia Sukri Haimi
Video analyst Malaysia Ahmad Hilmi Abdul Latif
Nutritionist Malaysia Norazmi Ramliy
Media Officer Malaysia Wan Mohd Fakhrul Anwar Wan Bakar
Team Administrator Malaysia Azfendy Azzudin
Team coordinator Malaysia Zulfadli Rozi 17 March 2025
Technical director Malaysia Tan Cheng Hoe 15 April 2025

Head coaches

Head coaches records

As of 25 March 2017
Malaysia national football team head coaches
Name Country Period GP W D* L GS GA GD Win %
Frank Bernhardt  Germany 2016–2017 14 5 5 4 17 18 −1 035.71
Ong Kim Swee  Malaysia 2017 6 5 0 1 11 5 +6 083.33
E. Elavarasan  Malaysia 2023–2024 5 3 0 2 12 8 +4 060.00

Honours

Regional

Others

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Lim Say Heng (19 February 2016). "Football to revert to U-23 format after 2017 SEA Games". TNP. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  2. ^ Martin Martinez (15 February 2019). "AFF U-22 Championship 2019: Malaysia schedule, time table, matches". FOX Sports Asia. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  3. ^ Nik Afiq (25 November 2015). "FAM Terminates Harimau Muda Program". Goal.com. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  4. ^ "SEA Games gold medal in sights of new Malaysia U22 coach Bernhardt". ESPN FC. 4 January 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  5. ^ Nik Afiq (27 April 2016). "Bernhadt Calls Up 25 Players For Next 2017 Sea Games Project Squad Training Camp". Goal.com. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  6. ^ "FAM taps Rob Friend as CEO to usher in a new era for Harimau Malaya". Bernama. 31 December 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024 – via Malay Mail.
  7. ^ Jacques, John (31 December 2024). "Rob Friend Named Malaysia National Team CEO". Northern Tribune. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
  8. ^ "Ex-CanMNT forward, current Vancouver FC president Rob Friend appointed Malaysia national team CEO". Canadian Soccer Daily. 31 December 2024. Retrieved 31 December 2024.
  9. ^ Nik Afiq (31 August 2016). "Malaysia U22 players Prefer Call-Up Approach". Goal.com. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
  10. ^ "Malaysia juara Piala Merlion" (in Malay). Harian Metro. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.