The Project 2017 Squad finish at the bottom in the 4 Nation Invitational Under 16 Tournament in Manheim, Germany earlier this week.
Malayasia had finished in the runner-up position in two previous outings and it was one of its worst performances as they lost two out of the three matches.
And the defeats were attributed to lack of preparation as the team only had four days of training prior to leaving for Germany. However that excuse does not make sense as only last March did this team play some friendly matches in Perth, Australia.
And on the top of that, there have been several training stints for this team over the past year. The only change to the team was when interim coach Lim Chiow Chuan was told to decide between coaching the 2017 squad or the 1MAS Program where he is a full time employee, holding the Director's position.
Lim opted to carry on with 1MAS and it was an ultimatum given by the 1MAS Steering Committee who wanted Lim to decide as they did not want undivided attention to the 1MAS Program.
Malaysia were defeated 4-1 by Germany in their opening match. The Germans got their goals through Max Godou (11th minute), Marc Busc (27th minute), Johannes Grobe ( 37th minute) and Cedric Nagi ( 59th minute) for a 4-0 lead before Malaysia reduced the deficit through Norsyafiq Sumantri in the 65th minute.
In the second match, Malaysia were a shade unlucky to concede a goal two minutes from time to go down 3-2 to Holland.
The Dutch raced to a 2-0 lead via goals by Pepijin Keppel ( 46th minute) and Morris de Vilder ( 56th minute). However the youngsters fouth back to draw level with Mohd Hafif Nordin ( 58th minute) and Firdaus Omar ( 65th minute) netting the two goals.
But lack on concentration allowed the Dutch to sneak in the winner via Morris de Vilder in the 68th minute.
In their third and final match, Malaysia took a 4-0 lead against Belgium only to concede three goals in the final 15 minutes but ran out 4-3 winners.
Malaysia scored through Luqman Ahmad Shukran ( 5th and 45th minutes), Mohd rahimi Baharin ( 11th minute) and Mohd Hafif Elka ( 34th minute). Belgium got their goals via Thomas Verhaijen ( 56th minute), Louis Hottler ( 63rd and 70th minutes).
