Lim You Offers Exciting Glimpse Of Malaysian Women’s Football Future

By Ahmad Nazrin Syahmi Mohamad Arif

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- Malayan Tigress Under-16 winger Lim You has the potential to become an important player for the senior national team in the future if her development continues on the right track, according to Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) Women’s Technical Director Soleen Al-Zoubi.

Soleen said Lim You has already displayed several qualities beyond her powerful left-footed shooting, describing her as an intelligent and highly coachable player who reads the game and situations well despite only recently joining the national youth set-up.

She said the 14-year-old player who shot to prominence after scoring seven goals in Malaysia’s 9-0 win over Saudi Arabia at the 2026 Srikandi Merdeka Cup in Kudus, Indonesia recently, still has plenty to improve particularly in her physical development, positioning and overall understanding of her attacking role.

“What I like about her is that she listens to the coach’s instructions, she’s very coachable and she’s very smart as well. She understands the game and reads the game and situations very well.

“Of course, there are many things that we still need to work on with her as a winger, in terms of physical abilities and positioning. It’s her first experience, but there is a lot to improve moving forward,” she told Bernama when contacted today.

Soleen said Lim You is firmly within FAM’s long-term development pathway and given her age, remains eligible for age-group competitions over the next few years, including the Under-15, Under-17 and subsequently Under-19 levels before potentially making the transition to the senior side.

“We always encourage young players to progress to the senior level but before that we also have the Under-19 competition next year. We can test them there first and if they are ready, why not for the senior team in the near future,” said the Jordanian-born coach.

Soleen, who previously served as the Jordan FA’s Women’s Football Director, said FAM has also moved quickly to manage expectations surrounding Lim You following the sudden attention on the youngster.

“We spoke to her openly about the expectations. We don’t expect her to score in every match because now of course the opponents know about her strengths. We expect them to mark her maybe even with two players.

“We told her not to worry if it happens. We are giving her other roles now, more defending, positioning and pressing when we need to. If we get the chance, of course we can still use her shooting from outside the box,” she said.

Meanwhile, Malayan Tigress player S. Thivashini, who has represented Malaysia from the Under-15 level through to the senior team, was equally impressed by Lim You’s natural ability and believes greater international exposure and experience could make the youngster an even more dangerous player.

“She’s left-footed and usually left-footed players are already gifted and she uses it wisely. She scored seven goals in a match, which even Messi has never done, so I feel like she has great potential to become something big and something better in the future,” she told Bernama.

The 20-year-old who helped Selangor win the women’s football gold at the 2026 Malaysia Games (SUKMA), said Lim You should embrace the growing attention without allowing it to affect her focus

Lim You who stands at 165 centimetres, scored all seven goals with her left foot against Saudi Arabia, including a free-kick and a penalty, with the youngster previously revealing that her father had worked on developing her left foot from a young age.

Her seven-goal haul helped Malaysia finish runners-up in Group A on four points and book a semi-final clash with Group B winners Thailand tomorrow.

Born in Taiwan and now based in Washington, United States, Lim You has Malaysian roots through her parents who were born and raised in Johor.

-- BERNAMA