BUKIT JALIL: Goalkeeper Danish Afnan Faizal was the hero of the day even though New Zealand beat Malaysia to the 11th spot in the Junior World Cup yesterday.
Malaysia equalised at 2-2, then 3-3 in the shootout before losing the sudden death 4-3.
Danish came into the picture in the second half when New Zealand were leading 2-1, after his teammate Rafaizul Saini was substituted, and he kept a clean slate to end the match 2-2.
In the shootout, Danish was again a star performer, and it ended at 3-3, but New Zealand won the sudden death to break Malaysian hearts. Malaysia also lost to Belgium and New Zealand in shootouts earlier.
Danish, who had very little playing time in this JWC, then collapsed on the turf and cried his heart out.
Young Tigers ended up 12th, but gave a strong fight to New Zealand before bowing out.
"When I was given an opportunity to play the last two quarters, I did my best to stop New Zealand scoring more goals, and we managed to equalise and take the match to a shootout.
"I gave my best in the shootout too, but could not help the team in sudden death. I was disappointed and cried because we lost the 11th position," said Danish.
Malaysia played well in patches but allowed New Zealand to score in the fourth minute off Luke Aldred. Two minutes later, Ashraf Adam equalised off a field attempt.
The Kiwis retook the lead off a Sam Lints field goal, and with three minutes remaining in the match, Shamir Shamsul nailed the equaliser.
Malaysia coach Amin Rahim lost his voice and could only whisper to the media.
"We failed to play well in the group stage and fell to Australia and Argentina. But in the placing matches, my players showed what they are capable of by holding Belgium and New Zealand to a shootout but lost both times.
"This set of players need to polish up in a few areas like fitness and game maturity to become better," whispered Amin.
New Zealand coach Aaron Ford expected Malaysia to come at them after their performance against Belgium.
"We came in prepared and knew that Malaysia are never going to give up until the end, as they held Belgium (2-2) and we were ready for them by practicing shootouts. And our shootout team did what was expected from them," said Ford.