SHAH ALAM, Oct 12 — The national football squad failed to score a win after four straight matches when they drew 1-1 against Afghanistan at Shah Alam Stadium here yesterday.

National coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee, who made major a reshuffle after the goalless draw with Singapore at Singapore National Stadium last Friday to give a chance to new players, is still looking for the winning formula.

The last time the Harimau Malaysia chalked up a victory was on June 22 when they defeated New Caledonia 2-1 in their Oceania Tour, which was later not recognised by Fifa due to a technical mistake by the organiser.

In yesterday's action, the visitors found the net in the 21st minute when a curving shot by Noarollah Amiri from the left corner outside the penalty box caught goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat offguard.

Stung by the opening goal, Harimau Malaysia attacked and made a close attempt in the 33rd minute when a header by Shahrul Mohd Saad hit the crossbar.

Harimau Malaysia found their equaliser via substitute Muhd Hadin Azman who headed in a pass from Matthew Thomas Davies in the dying minutes of the first half.

Malaysia, now ranked 153rd in the world drew 0-0 with Singapore (Oct 7), lost 0-3 to Indonesia (Sept 6) and drew 1-1 with Fiji (June 26), while Afghanistan lost 0-2 to Lebanon on Sept 5, beat Singapore 2-1 (March 29) and were thumped 0-5 by Japan (March 24).

Malaysia have only recorded three wins from 11 matches this year with two 3-0 wins against Timor Leste in the 2019 Asian Cup qualifying playoff in June and the win over New Caledonia.

The national squad will be having a friendly match against Papua New Guinea on Nov 14 in Malaysia before Kim Swee finalises 23 players for the AFF Cup from Nov 19 to Dec 17.

With four disappointing outings, Ong wants to focus on strengthening the national squad's frontliners.

He said that he needed to improve weaknesses in the attack before the Suzuki AFF Cup campaign begins on Nov 19 in Myanmar to meet the target of reaching the final.

“I believe we should have won just now, especially with the performance shown by the players in the second half. I will focus on training to improve and sharpen the attack before our first AFF Cup match on Nov 21.

“However, I am impressed with the performance of the defence lineup today,” he told the post-match media conference.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan head coach Petar Segrt was upset with the lack of local fans at the match and aggressive match-play shown by the home team.

“However, I am happy with my boys' performance today. We controlled the first half, had good chances and played decent football. We are pleased that we scored the first goal,” he said. — Bernama