SHAH ALAM, March 26 — Scintillating Malaysia were held to a frustrating 2-2 draw against China in their final Group J match of the 2020 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 (U-23) qualifying round, tonight.

It was Jiang Shen’s header in the 83rd minute that denied the more than 20,000 home fans’ hope to see their favourites qualify automatically into the final round in Bangkok, next year, as group champions.

In the match at the Shah Alam Stadium, here, master coach Guus Hiddink’s side started the game very well but it was Malaysia who broke the deadlock in the 10th minute after Yang Liyu landed the ball into his own net following Muhammad Syahmi Safari’s shot.

Six minutes later, the "Great Wall” pulled a goal back through Zhang Yuning’s header to make it level until half time.

Midfielder, Muhammad Danial Haqim put Malaysia back in front in the 54th minute after calmly tapping the ball into the net when goalkeeper Chen Wei failed to stop Nik Akif Syahiran’s corner.

China then could have had more goals as goalkeeper Muhammad Haziq Nadzli was forced to stop efforts from the opponent’s marauders.

Tonight’s result saw Malaysia end the qualifying round as runners-up, sharing seven points with China, who had better goal difference to be group champions.

Malaysia’s fate now will depend on other groups’ final match results by tomorrow morning as only the best five runner-up teams will be joining 11 other teams in the final round. — Bernama