KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s path into the AFF Cup semi-finals may not have been as clear cut as they would have hoped after losing 3-0 to Vietnam in their third Group B stage match today at My Dinh National Stadium.
With the loss, Malaysia’s fate in the tournament now rests on their match against Singapore on January 3.
Today’s sole goal in the first half came in the 28th minute when Vietnam’s Nguyen Tien Linh headed the ball into the top right post from a corner kick, leaving Malaysian keeper Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed unable to respond quickly enough.
But Malaysia did test Vietnamese goalkeeper Dang Van Lam with a fair number of attempts, with the closest coming in the 40th minute as Van Lam saved Muhammad Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi’s header at the last minute.
Although Vietnam went into the second half with the lead, they were one man down as forward Nguyen Van Toan was shown the red card after receiving his second yellow for a challenge on Dominic Tan.
The second half saw absolutely questionable refereeing by Japanese official Sato Ryuji, as he gave a penalty to Vietnam for a challenge by Muhammad Azam Azmi Murad, who was then shown a red card, even though the challenge happened outside the playing field.
The decision for the penalty was not clear cut as the Japanese referee only made the call after some time. After referring to the linesman, he then showed Azam the red card, to the bafflement of every Malaysian fan.
Vietnam’s Que Ngoc Hai converted the spot-kick and doubled Vietnam’s lead in the 63rd minute.
Things got worse for Malaysia in the 82nd minute. Nguyen Hoang Duc received a stellar no-look through ball and due to poor defending by Harimau Malaya, scored after coming one-on-one with Ahmad Syihan and made it 3-0 for Vietnam.
Speaking to media after the match, Harimau Malaya head coach Kim Pan-gon apologised to the Malaysian fans for the defeat.
“Apologies to the Malaysian fans because we could not make them proud tonight. But Harimau Malaya did their best, they followed the coaching staff’s instructions.
“In the first half we made the mistake during the corner, but besides that we controlled the game well,” he said.
Commenting on the controversial penalty, Pan-gon said he was still unsure of the events that transpired during the challenge.
“It is difficult to say what happened because I did not have a clear picture. I have to fully analyse it with the team.
“But we must learn something from that situation. They (Vietnam) had one less player and we should have taken advantage of that.
“There is no regret. I hope the young players learn something from this and become better footballers. Both teams played a good match and now we must look forward to the match against Singapore because it is crucial for us,” added the South Korean.
Meanwhile, midfielder Stuart Wilkin was also proud of his teammates despite the loss.
“Sometimes football comes down to the game in both boxes. Vietnam took their chances and unfortunately we could not convert ours today.
“I think it is a game we need to learn and take lessons from for our final group match against Singapore, and get the win for us to qualify,” he said.
Malaysia will take on Singapore on January 3 at Bukit Jalil National Stadium for the last shot at advancing to the AFF Cup semi-finals. – The Vibes, December 27, 2022
