KUALA LUMPUR – National under-16s football head coach Javier Jorda Ribera is impressed with the level of discipline shown by his players during the recently concluded AFF U16 Boys’ Championship.
Since his appointment in May, Ribera, formerly the youth coach and academy manager of Johor Darul Ta’zim FC, has selected 23 players from 161 candidates across states and clubs.
The squad primarily consisted of Akademi Mokhtar Dahari and JDT players for the Southeast Asian tournament.
Drawn in Group C alongside Thailand, East Timor and Australia for the 19th edition of the tournament, Malaysia finished with three points.
In the 2022 edition, they garnered five points from a group that included Myanmar, Cambodia and Australia, but still failed to progress to the next round.
In that edition, football fans criticised the young players who were under the guidance of former head coach Osmera Omaro for being overly active on social media rather than focusing on their game.
Ribera has made discipline a cornerstone of his coaching strategy since taking over, dedicating an hour before each training session to educate his players on the importance of discipline.
“I don’t know what happened in the past, and I don’t care about it as I was not the coach at that time. As long as I’m here, I will make sure that the team is well-disciplined.
“The players I have are talented, but as a coach, it’s my main duty to educate them on their strengths and weaknesses to help them improve their game.
“It’s also my responsibility to ensure they have a good attitude both on and off the pitch. They are still underage boys, and I spend an hour with them before each training session, explaining the life of a footballer and the consequences of not being disciplined.
“The players are very understanding and always eager to learn and improve. As a coach, I didn’t take drastic actions like confiscating their phones. Instead, I led by example. My coaching team and I didn’t use phones during training sessions, so the players followed suit.
“My players have a great attitude, and I believe that with this right mindset, they can achieve great things,” said Ribera when contacted.
The national U16s will next compete in the 2025 U17 Asian Cup qualifiers against Laos, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.
This will determine the participating teams for the tournament in Saudi Arabia.
The team last competed in the 2023 U17 Asian Cup in Thailand. – July 6, 2024
