JAKARTA: Malaysia survived four yellow cards and a penalty stroke to beat South Korea 5-4 to cement their spot in the Super-Four of the Asia Cup at GBK Stadium here today.
The Speedy Tigers, who thrashed Oman 7-0 on Monday, have six points from two matches in Group B. They will play Bangladesh on Thursday.
Leading 4-1 after the second quarter, Malaysia almost collapsed as South Korea went on full press.
But still, the day belonged to the bruised and battered team of coach Arul Selvaraj.
Malaysia scored through Norsyafiq Sumantri (first and 27th minutes), Razie Rahim (17th and 52nd) and Ashran Hamsani (32nd).
Yang Jihun (25th and 56th), Jang Jonghyun (34th) and Kim Sunghyun (40th) scored for Korea.
"It was a fantastic performance from my players, but the four yellow cards need to be looked into further as we can't afford such a situation in the Super-Four," said Arul.
Faiz Helmi Jali, Azrai Aizad, Shahril Saabah and captain Marhan Jalil were yellow-carded for various offences during the match.
"We will play Bangladesh in our final Group B match next. Although we have qualified for the Super-Four, we will play not only to win but also score as many goals as possible," Arul added.
Marhan said: "I will keep on pushing my players to win every match, as my personal target is not only to qualify for the World Cup, but also win the Asia Cup."
Man-of-the-Match Norsyafiq scored his first international goal for the senior side and now wants to carry on the momentum against Bangladesh.
"The two goals have motivated me to score more in this tournament. I want to help my teammates achieve their target in the Asia Cup which is to be at the top of the podium," said the 25-year-old.