KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s hopes of ending their Under-23 Asian Cup campaign on a high note were dashed after a 2-1 defeat against Kuwait in their final Group D match at Qatar’s Al Janoub Stadium last night.
Juan Torres Garrido’s charges, who have yet to score a goal in the tournament, adopted a more offensive approach with a 4-4-2 formation and nearly took an early lead through midfielder Daryl Sham George.
The 21-year-old Johor Darul Ta’zim II player fell victim to Kuwait’s lunging tackles in the opening seven minutes of the game – resulting in Fahad Al Fadhil receiving the first yellow card of the match after a decision by the video assistant referee (VAR) system in the eighth minute.
Luqman Hakim Shamsudin, who started the game as a left winger, found the net in the 15th minute through Haqimi Azmim’s pass, only to be ruled offside after a VAR review.
Controversy arose in the match when Harimau Muda goalkeeper Sikh Izhan Nazrel was shown a straight red card for a flying kick on Salman Al Awadhi in the 45th minute outside the penalty box, leading to the match being given 14 minutes of additional time by match referee Alexander King.
Kuwait continued to apply pressure on the Malaysian defence, making it difficult for Garrido’s charges to connect their moves, which led to midfielder Umar Hakeem handling the ball in the penalty box from Talal Al Qaisi’s cross.
Salman, who plays for Al-Arabi Kuwait FC in the domestic league, calmly converted the penalty to give his side a lead in the dying minutes of the first half.
Malaysia showed several glimpses of hope in the second half through substitute Aliff Izwan Yuslan, who came on for Fergus Tierney.
However, Harimau Muda were no match for Kuwait’s attacking prowess, with Terengganu FC’s Ubaidullah Shamsul unable to shut down Faisal Alshatti’s cross, making it easy for Talal to head in the second goal for The Blues in the 60th minute.
Harimau Muda finally scored the first goal of their Asian Cup campaign through Haqimi Rosli, who scored a grounder from the left corner – beating Kuwait goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al-Fadhl.
The game was balanced on the pitch in the 84th minute when Kuwait’s Salman was shown a straight red card for his reckless tackle on Umar Hakeem.
T. Saravanan came close to salvaging a draw for Malaysia with a header, only to be tipped away by goalkeeper Abdulrahman in the penalty box.
Malaysia, officially eliminated from the tournament after their second game against Vietnam on April 20, finished bottom of Group D with zero points after the defeat.
Harimau Muda’s best achievement in the U23 Asian Cup was in 2018 when they reached the quarter-finals in China. – April 24, 2024