KUALA LUMPUR − Malaysia’s hope of booking an early semi-final ticket suffered a setback when they were beaten 3-0 by Vietnam in their Group B match of the 2020 AFF Cup championship at Bishan Stadium in Singapore today.
Malaysia was punished for failing to adapt quickly to the high-intensity match as Vietnam scored twice in a space of four minutes in the first half before sealing the game with their third goal in the dying minutes of the match.
The result also broke Harimau Malaya’s unbeaten record in the group, following Malaysia’s wins over Cambodia and Laos in their first two matches.
The defeat at the hands of the defending champions pushed Malaysia to third place in the group behind leaders Indonesia and Vietnam, denting the chances of chief coach Tan Cheng Hoe’s squad qualifying for the semi-finals.
It is also Malaysia’s sixth defeat in their last seven clashes with Vietnam and the fifth for Cheng Hoe against the Golden Dragon since taking charge of the national team in 2017.
In tonight’s match, Malaysia had a scare in the second minute when skipper Mohamad Aidil Zafuan Abd Radzak failed to clear the ball with his header and presented Nguyen Cong Phuong with a chance, but the latter ballooned his shot.
Cong Phuong again tested the Malaysian goalmouth with a short-range shot in the tenth minute, but it was well fielded by goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat.
Malaysia was then dealt a blow when Aidil had to be stretchered out in the 24th minute after suffering a thigh injury.
Dominic Tan was brought in to partner Shahrul Mohd Saad, and Vietnam fully exploited this situation when Nguyen Quang Hai capitalised on a defensive error to put his team ahead in the 32nd minute.
A minute later, Malaysia were presented with their best chance to equalise after a Vietnam defender back-headed the ball to the feet of an unguarded Luqman Hakim Shamsudin but the 19-year-old striker’s left-footed shot went off target.
Poor combination between Shahrul and Dominic again proved costly as Cong Phuong easily went past them before tricking Dominic and letting fly a right-footed shot which beat Khairul in the 36th minute.
Malaysia mounted some dangerous moves in the end of the first half but Muhammad Syafiq Ahmad failed to score with a header in the 38th minute and a right-footed attempt in added time.
After the interval, Malaysia brought in naturalised player Guilherme De Paula and M. Kogileswaran in a bid to turn the tide while Vietnam began to slow the pace.
Malaysia were then hit by further injuries, forcing Cheng Hoe to substitute Shahrul with Muhammad Ariff Farhan Md Isa and bring in striker Muhammad Shahrel Fikri Md Fauzi.
However, Vietnam proved to be a class above by absorbing whatever Malaysia could throw at them before scoring their third goal in the 89th minute through Nguyen Hoang Duc.
In an earlier Group B match, Indonesia scored their second straight victory by thrashing Laos 5-1 at the same venue.
The goals of the Garuda squad were scored by Asnawi Mangkualam through a penalty in the 23rd minute, Irfan Jaya (34th minute), Witan Sulaeman (56th minute), Ezra Walian (77th minute) and Evan Dimas (84th minute) while Kydavone Souvanny netted Laos’ only goal in the 41st minute.
With the win, Indonesia lead Group B with six points on a better goal difference over Vietnam while Malaysia is lying third, also on six points but with only one match left − against Indonesia on December 19. – Bernama, December 12, 2021
