PETALING JAYA: The national Under-23 football team are making big preparations to reach their semi-final target at the AFF U-23 Championship in Indonesia next month.

As the youth team completed their Elite Games preparation phase with head coach Nafuzi Zain at the Cheras Stadium yesterday, the 30 players selected for centralised training will have another challenge before heading to Indonesia.

The youth squad will be facing Super League clubs Police (July 5), Melaka (July 8), and Negri Sembilan (July 11) before heading to Jakarta to compete in the tournament from July 15-29.

Nafuzi said that although it would be fantastic to reach the final, they will first have to get past tough group stage fixtures to reach the final four.

“This is my first international tournament with the national team after being with a club team, and I know there are many differences between the two.

“Our main target is to reach the final, but with our situation, we are keeping our focus on one game at a time,” he said.

The situation Nafuzi referred to was the lack of time he had to prepare the squad, who only underwent their Elite Games phase last week.

He added that the programme went according to plan, and the coaching set-up was satisfied with the objective.

He also said working with Harimau Malaya head coach Peter Cklamovski has been invaluable as the youth and senior team go hand-in-hand.

“I have been learning a lot from him (Cklamovski). He gives me ideas and shares information with me, not just tactical but in terms of management as well.

“He has also been giving me the space, and I’m working towards learning and improving my skills,” he said.

At the AFF U-23 Championship, Malaysia will start their tricky campaign in Group A against the Philippines on July 15, followed by Brunei (July 18), and Indonesia (July 21) at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

“It’s important to get a good result against the Philippines, then we have Brunei, and the toughest challenge will be against hosts Indonesia,” Nafuzi said.