SHAH ALAM: Muhammad Safawi Rasid’s fantastic free kick in the 81st minute was enough to give Malaysia a 1-0 victory over Laos in their Group J match of the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 qualifying round despite a frustrating performance on Sunday night.
Coming in as a substitute in the 54th minute, the Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) forward made a huge impact especially on the right side with his runs and crosses.
The second victory after a comfortable 3-0 win over the Philippines on last Friday helped Datuk Ong Kim Swee’s squad collect six points to be slated second behind China, with one game remaining.
In the match at the Shah Alam Stadium here, with five changes made in the squad, national head coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee’s side struggled to start the game well.
The absence of Nik Akif Syahiran and Muhammad Daniel Amier Norhisham in the midfield was greatly felt as Malaysia failed to display good performance.
Goalkeeper, Muhammad Haziq Nadzli impressively stopped a couple of efforts by the visitors throughout the 90 minutes.
Earlier, Vannasone Douangmaity almost broke the deadlock for Laos as his long-range shot hit the woodwork in the 35th minute.
Speaking to reporters after the match, Kim Swee admitted it was a poor performance from his side but glad the team managed to fight for a goal until the very last minute.
“Well, definitely it was not good in term of performance after making few changes…kind of disappointing, we created a lot of chances in the first half, but we could not convert it into goals until the very last minute.
“But the best thing is we are going against China on Tuesday with six points,” he said.
Meanwhile, Laos head coach, V.Sundrammoorthy couldn’t hide his disappointment over the loss but praised his boys for an outstanding performance against the home team.
“It’s always difficult to play the home team, but I believe that we were prepared for this game by looking at Malaysia and how they performed in the last game.
“It was very sad that we lost to a free kick. But I’m proud of the team’s performance,” he said.
Malaysia will host China in the last match today at the same venue. – Bernama
