Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia were in disappointing form on Wednesday as they were beaten 3-0 by Syria in their penultimate friendly game ahead of the 2014 AFF Championship.
It took the Syrians just four minutes to open the scoring at the Shah Alam Stadium when Nadim Sabagh latched onto a loose ball outside the box, before unleashing a left-footed strike that took a wicked deflection and sailed past a hapless Farizal Marlias.
The visitors doubled their advantage three minutes after the break as Sanharib Malki poked home a rebound from two yards, after S. Kunanlan had initially made a crucial block on the line to keep out a goal-bound header.
The contest was effectively over in the 67th minute, Omar Khribin making it 3-0 with a simple header into an unguarded net, following a glaring error by Farizal that saw him push a harmless cross into the path of the Air Force SC striker.
Harimau Malaya have one final friendly to play before they kick off their AFF Championship campaign, when they travel to My Dinh Stadium to take on Vietnam on November 16.
Dollah Salleh’s charges will be looking to qualify for the semi-finals from a difficult Group B that also includes hosts Singapore, three-time champions Thailand and up-and-coming Myanmar.