KUNSHAN, China: The national team’s exploits at the AFC Under-23 Championship has sadly come to an end in the quarter-finals when they went down 2-1 to South Korea at the Kunshan Stadium in China earlier today.
National coach Ong Kim Swee and his boys fought bravely to stage a comeback and create even more history. They fell behind early on no thanks to the fastest goal scored in the championship so far by Cho Jae Wan, but Sea Games hero N. Thanabalan gave Malaysia a lifeline in the second half when he managed to score an equaliser.
However, the national team’s hopes of advancing to the semi-finals was not to be as Han Seung Gyu saved the Koreans from any embarrassment by scoring the winner five minutes before the end.
Even though the national team was bogged down by injury woes to a few players, Kim Swee kept faith with most of the players who made up the first eleven that beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 in the final group C match which sent Malaysia to the quarter-finals. The only change being Nik Akif Syahiran replacing R. Kogileswaran upfront.
Before Malaysia could settle into the match, they were stunned by an early attacking move by the South Koreans from the right flank.
Jae Wan’s fierce strike could not be saved by goalkeeper Haziq Nadzli with the match only a mere 15 seconds in.
However the 2016 runners-up’s early goal failed to dampen Malaysia’s fierce fighting spirit as they tried to wrestle control of the match as the South Koreans began to signs of fatigue.
Top scorer Safawi Rasid, who scored against Iraq and Saudi Arabia, had two of the best chances to score fall at his feet in the 16th minute and during added time towards the end of the first half, however both attempts were saved by goalkeeper Kang Hyeon Mu.
Even though they managed to slow down the tempo of the match, the South Koreans, coached by Kim Bong Gil were dangerous especially with swift attacking moves which almost led to a goal in the 31st minute, though Haziq was brilliant as he prevailed in the one-on-one situation against Lee Kuon Ho.
Even though trailing by a goal from early on, Malaysia kept on pressing forward and almost levelled the score through attempts by Adam Nor Azlin and Safawi, but both tries went wide.
Kim Swee then made two substitutions by bringing on N. Thanabalan for 18-year-old Akhyar Abdul Rashid and Hadi Fayyadh Abdul Razak to reinvigorate their attacking line.
The move worked as Thanabalan, who injured his hamstring and had to be rested in the last two group matches, delivered perfectly with a header to bring Malaysia back into the game in the 67th minute.
However the South Koreans broke Malaysian hearts when the defense failed to intercept Seung Gyu as he scored their winning goal in the 85th minute to send them to a semi-final showdown against Uzbekistan on Tuesday.