JOHOR BARU: Double Olympian Datuk R. Yogeswaran was at the Taman Daya Stadium when Malaysia were beaten 7-4 by Britain in the Sultan of Johor Cup (SoJC) fifth placing match on Thursday.
And his spot-on assessment was: "This juniors team is good, but needs to be turned into a championship side in one month's time so that they can escape their group stage with distinction."
Malaysia, who are in Group A with Chile, Argentina and Australia, need to win two matches to justify their eighth ranking and play in the quarter-finals.
"From what I have observed against Britain, the players made too many mistakes when presented with scoring opportunities. For example, when a player came face-to-face with a defender at the edge of the semi-circle, he had three options to play the ball.
"But the Malaysian strikers always seemed to pick the wrong choice, the ball was intercepted and a counterattack launched which resulted in the defenders and goalkeeper placed under tremendous pressure.
"The three choices for the striker were either to beat the defender, or make a right or left pass to his nearest teammate. But in the Britain game, the strikers always made the wrong choice and a penalty corner or goal opportunity was wasted.
"Choosing the best of the three options is what needs to be drilled into the players for the next 30 days." said Yogeswaran who played in the Asian Games in Jakarta (1962) and Bangkok (1966) and the Olympics in Tokyo (1964) and Mexico (1968).
On the two goalkeepers, Yogeswaran said they must stand their ground and not lie on the turf when facing a striker.
"Both the goalkeepers were used against Britain and many of the seven goals they let in could have been stopped if only they stood instead of lying down on the turf when under attack.
"These are some of the small adjustments that need to be made to turn them from a good team to a championship side.
"Starting the Junior World Cup (Dec 5-16) on a good note should be utmost on the agenda right now. That is why they must beat Chile at all costs to keep the quarter-final fire burning," said Yogeswaran.
Malaysia will battle Chile on Dec 5, world No. 1 Argentina the next day, and Australia on Dec 8 to decide their fate at their own home turf.
At the SoJC, Malaysia lost all their four matches: against New Zealand (3-2), India (3-1), Pakistan (3-2) and Britain (7-4).