Malaysian expert comments on the caliber of Vietnam's U17 team, acknowledging that reaching the final is a success for their own squad.

Malaysian football expert Sulaiman Hussin commended the standard of Vietnam's U17 team and believes Malaysia's U17 acquired precious experience following the 2026 Southeast Asia U17 Championship.

Malaysia's U17 lost 0-3 to Vietnam's U17 in the Southeast Asia U17 Championship final on April 24 evening. This was Malaysia's U17 second defeat in the tournament against Vietnam's U17. Earlier in the group stage, Vietnam's U17 defeated Malaysia's U17 4-0.

Malaysia's coach, Sulaiman Hussin, noted that Malaysia's U17 demonstrated positive progress throughout the tournament, especially by bouncing back after the heavy 0-4 loss to Vietnam's U17 in the opening match of Group A to advance directly to the final.

However, he also emphasized that the young players need to extract valuable lessons from this tournament to improve their professional quality and prepare for larger competitions in the future.

"This is a learning process for them to understand the required standards and level when competing at the U17 tier. The players have learned a great deal, and I believe the coaching staff has identified weaknesses to address so the team can be better prepared in the future," Coach Sulaiman Hussin stated.

Coach Sulaiman Hussin highlighted Malaysia's U17 victory over Indonesia's U17: "In the first match, they lost to Vietnam, but afterward they rose strongly (winning 1-0) against Indonesia. Although Indonesia controlled the game in that match, the fighting spirit of our players is highly commendable."

Regarding the final, Coach Sulaiman Hussin praised the level of Vietnam's U17: "The defeat in the final can become a tonic that helps the players rise up and learn from shortcomings. We can see Vietnam's U17 play with high intensity, well-organized tactics, close pressing, and stable ball control; they truly are at a higher level."

"We should view this achievement from a positive perspective because the young players are in a development phase. Making it to the final is a proud success, as initially not many placed high expectations on them," Sulaiman Hussin added about Malaysia's U17.