The ASEAN Championship has always been a stage for Southeast Asia’s promising young footballers to showcase their talent to a wider audience.
The ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup™ 2024 will be no exception with 10 ASEAN nations set to participate again, bringing with them youngsters who could make a significant impression for their teams or make it a breakthrough tournament for them on an individual level.
Indonesian duo Pratama Arhan and Marselino Ferdinan won the Young Player of the Tournament accolade in the 2020 and 2022 editions respectively, and we’re now looking forward to finding out which new player will add their name to this list.
ASEAN United FC picks five young stars to keep an eye out for from Group A. Vote at the foot of the article for your favourite amongst them!
Jonathan Khemdee (Thailand)
Still only 22, Jonathan Khemdee has had quite the start to life as a professional footballer! A product of Danish club Odense Boldklub’s youth academy, he signed for his first Thai club when he joined Ratchaburi FC in January 2023.
Last season, the centre-back was voted the Thai League 1 Best Defender after helping Ratchaburi to a sixth-place finish, their highest position since 2017. For the national team, he was called up for the 2020 ASEAN Championship but had to withdraw due to acid reflux in his stomach.
Since then, Khemdee has featured prominently for the Under 23s, helping the side reach back-to-back finals of the SEA Games in 2022 and 2023. He then caught the eye of senior team head coach Masatada Ishii this year, starting and playing the full 90 minutes in Thailand’s recent wins over Vietnam, Philippines and Syria.
Haqimi Azim (Malaysia)
🇲🇾 Haqimi Azim Rosli with a fine finish!#AFCU23 | #KUWvMAS pic.twitter.com/ZZumFD0DzT
— #AsianQualifiers (@afcasiancup) April 23, 2024
Haqimi Azim has been touted as one of Malaysia’s next big stars and expectations are for him to fill in the No. 9 position for years to come. He made his league debut for Kuala Lumpur City FC in April 2022 and just eight months later was called up to the senior national team.
A dream start to life for the Harimau Malaya saw him score a debut goal against Laos at the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup™ in 2022 but he was surprisingly left out of the national team squad until being brought back into the fold in June this year after his classy goal against Kuwait in this year’s AFC U23 Asian Cup in Qatar.
At the club level, the 21-year-old has become a key player, scoring the winning goal against Kaya FC-Iloilo in the ASEAN Club Championship Shopee Cup™ and fans of the Harimau Malaya will now hope that they can see the very best of this promising young forward.
Farhan Zulkifli (Singapore)
Farhan Zulkifli burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old in 2019 when he became the second-youngest goalscorer in Singapore Premier League history with his debut goal for Hougang United.
However, it is this season when it seems that Farhan is truly coming of age after being appointed as the captain of the Young Lions while undergoing his national service. He returned to the Cheetahs last month, racking up four goals and seven assists in the league to already make the ongoing season his best to date.
Farhan had made his senior national team debut against Causeway Derby rivals Malaysia, playing as a left-back as opposed to his favoured left-winger position in the 2022 edition, and has recently returned to the Lions’ setup with a bang after scoring his first senior national team goal in the recent friendly win against Myanmar.
Sieng Chanthea (Cambodia)
One of Cambodia’s brightest young forwards, Sieng Chanthea has been the nation’s first-choice centre forward in recent years, signalling a new era for the national team as he aims to emulate Chan Vathanaka who previously successfully led the attack for the Koupreys.
Chanthea scored on his senior national team debut against Pakistan back in 2019 before going on to score in each of the last two ASEAN Championships against Laos and Thailand. Earlier this year, he became the first Cambodian footballer to score against a CONCACAF opponent, Guyana, during the 2024 FIFA Series in Jeddah.
This season, he has five goals and three assists for his club side Boeung Ket and Chanthea will now once again lead the line as he aims to score in his third successive ASEAN Championship this month.
Zenivio (Timor-Leste)
Timor-Leste are developing some interesting talents in recent times with Zenivio one of those, having been the youngest player to feature in the 2020 edition aged just 16, which was the Timorese’s last appearance in the group stage.
Born in Ainaro, a town located 78 kilometres south of the capital Dili, Zenivio is now a starter for the national team with his versatility showcased during the ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup™ 2024 qualifying round playoff win against Brunei DS where he played as a left winger in the first leg and as a right back in the second leg.
Zenivio became the first-ever Timorese player to feature in the Singapore Premier League when he signed for Tanjong Pagar United this year, a club managed by Noh Alam Shah, and he has gone on to establish himself as a starter for his club. The 19-year-old is now all set for his ASEAN Mitsubishi Electric Cup™ group stage debut.
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