KUALA LUMPUR – National footballer Faisal Halim’s goal against South Korea in Harimau Malaya’s 3-3 draw in its final group game at the Asian Cup in Doha has been nominated as one of the Goals of the Tournament.
Other nominees for the award are Japan winger Keito Nakamura’s top-corner curler against Vietnam, Saudi Arabia forward Abdulrahman Ghareeb’s mazy run and finish against Oman, Qatar striker Hassan Al Haydos’s rocket from a corner against China, and Thai midfielder Supachok Sarachat’s bottom corner curler from outside the box against Uzbekistan.
South Korea captain Son Heung-min’s stunning free kick from outside the box against Australia to win the quarterfinal is also among the nominees with Jordan winger Mousa Al Tamari’s run and finish from outside the box against South Korea and Iran forward Sardar Azmoun’s hook shot against Qatar.
Fans can vote for the best goal of the tournament by heading to the official Asian Football Confederation website.
Faisal’s goal came in the second half of the Group E match at the Al Janoub Stadium last month.
Malaysia were trailing 1-0 after conceding in the first half, while in the second half, Korea’s Hwang In-beom was caught in possession by Darren Lok.
The ball landed at the feet of Arif Aiman Hanapi where the chance seemed to have gone but Faisal took the ball wide of the goal.
He then executed a half-turn which signalled to the Korean defence he was going to cross the ball.
Instead, he went for a goal and equalised the score.
The game ended 3-3 and Malaysia recovered some pride after getting humbled 4-0 by Jordan and losing 1-0 to Bahrain earlier in the group.
Harimau Malaya returned home with one point but were bottom of their group after two defeats and a draw. – February 21, 2024