BUKIT JALIL, Dec 1 — Apart from scoring, Malaysia did everything right against Thailand in their Asian Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup semi-final match tonight which ended 0-0.
National head coach Tan Cheng Hoe had said yesterday that he would not park the bus against the mighty Thais and he kept his word by setting his team to score.
From the get go Malaysia had the majority of possession and naturalised player Mohamadou Sumareh had two chances to put Malaysia ahead in the 26th and 28th minutes when he found himself free in the opponent’s box. Sadly he shot wide twice.
Winger Safawi Rasid took multiple shots on goal but none were good enough to trouble the custodian.
In the second half, forwards Hazwan Bakri and Shahrel Fikri were substituted for Sumareh (64th minute) and Zaqhuan Adha Abdul Radzak (81st minute). They gave the national team an injection of pace on the wings but the Thai defence stood resolute and we now head to Bangkok on the 5th of December for the return leg with all to play for.
The result meant Malaysia maintain their unbeaten home record against Thailand that stretches back to 1971 while defensive midfielder Syamer Kutty Abba was named man of the match.
