KUALA LUMPUR, June 17 — Outraged by Malaysia’s stunning 6-0 defeat to Palestine on home soil yesterday, fans of the national football team took to Facebook to pour their contempt.

In an apparent sarcastic Facebook post on the qualifying match for the 2018 World Cup, the Malaya Tigers – self-described hard-core supporters of the Malaysian team – posted the monthly salaries of six Malaysian players ranging from RM40,000 to RM85,000 in a comparison of the differences between the two teams.

This was placed in a side-by-side comparison with a photograph of the Palestine football team and scenes of destruction and rubble, with men carrying bloodied bodies likely as a result of the conflicts in Palestine.

The Facebook post was summed up as Palestine “6 vs 0” Malaysia, in reference to yesterday’s game at Bukit Jalil Stadium where the former scored three goals in the first half before taking up the remaining three in the second half.

The Malaysian football team or “Harimau Malaya”’s performance yesterday attracted scorn and derision, with detractors commenting on the Facebook post to criticise the players for allegedly only keeping their eye on the money and glamour and preferring personal showmanship over teamwork.

A Facebook user identified only as Muhammad Firdaus noted that Palestine had worse training conditions than Malaysia, stating: “buat malu je pemain kebangsaan, balik rumah lipat kain lagi bagus, palestine negara susah padang pun tak ada boleh menang,lebih publisiti dari qualiti”.

[Translation: National players are embarrassing, better to go home and fold clothes, Palestine is a poor country, don’t even have field, can win, more publicity than quality.]

Another Facebook user, Muhammad Is’ad Mohd Said claimed the differing motivations of both the Palestine and Malaysian players had, stating in a comment: “Bezanye kat sini, palestine berjuang untuk negara, Harimau Malaya berjuang kerana wang , dulu harimau malaya berjuang kerana negara sebab itu berjaya”.

[Translation: The difference is here, Palestine fights for the country, Harimau Malaya fight for the money, in the past Harimau Malaya fought for the country, that’s why it succeeded,” the comment read.

Another Facebook user pointed out that countries like Palestine does not even have a football league, unlike Malaysia, while another said that those who should be blamed are the players, the coach and the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM).

But some users defended two of the Malaysian players featured in the Facebook, stating that they did not play in yesterday’s match.

The Facebook post, which was dubbed “Fakta antara pemain Palestine dan Malaysia” (Facts between Palestine and Malaysia’s players), has garnered 618 likes at the time of writing.

Malaysia’s head coach Dollah Salleh said he was disappointed at the players for failing to fight back despite a good start in the second half, noting that they appeared to have “given up” when the fourth goal was conceded to Palestine.

Dollah said more careful preparation is needed, adding that character changes were required and suggested that he may change half of the player line-up.

The Malaysia team is scheduled to play a friendly match against English Premier League Club Liverpool at the National Stadium on July 24, before engaging with the United Arab Emirates team in the next World Cup qualifying match on September 3.