Fourth defeat for U-22 football team

Mar 29, 2017 06:00 am

The national Under-22 football team ended their Dubai Cup campaign with another defeat, after a 2-0 loss to Thailand last night.

The Thais scored in both halves (23rd and 77th minutes) and could even afford to miss a penalty in the 63rd minute, as they sealed the win and the trophy.

The result means Richard Tardy's charges, who will head to the Kuala Lumpur South-east Asia (SEA) Games in August, lost all four of their games in the United Arab Emirates.

Before playing Thailand, they had also succumbed to defeats by Jordan (2-0), UAE (4-0) and Malaysia (3-1).

The statistics - 11 goals conceded, just one scored - do not make for good reading but Tardy has lined up more sparring matches for his team in the coming months, including two in Qatar in June, to whip his charges into shape.

An AFC Under-23 Championship qualifying tournament in July will be the final test for the squad, before the big assignment in KL. - SAZALI ABDUL AZIZ