Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Kuala Lumpur: Saudi Arabia enjoyed a morale-boosting win ahead of their 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualifying clash against Indonesia with an emphatic 4-1 win over Malaysia in an international friendly at the Shah Alam Stadium on Sunday.
Yousef Al Salem put the three-time Asian Champions one up after just seven minutes before his Ettifaq team-mate Yahia Al Shehri doubled Saudi Arabia’s advantage on the half-hour mark.
Saudi coach Juan Lopez made a raft of changes for the second half with the former Real Madrid coach fielding 11 different players after the breather but it was Malaysia that were to find the target, with Tigers’ skipper Safiq Rahim reducing the deficit in the 70th minute.
But Saudi Arabia were to have the final say with Naif Hazazi adding a third with two minutes remaining before Hamdan Al Hamdan sealed the win two minutes into second-half stoppage time to consign Malaysia to their fourth consecutive defeat which includes their 2-0 reverse to Qatar in the opening match of their 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualifying Group D campaign.
The ASEAN side will be desperate to halt this run when they host Yemen at the Shah Alam Stadium on Friday in matchday two of the Australia 2015 qualifiers while the Saudis will be determined to build on their opening victory over China when they face Indonesia on Saturday.
Photo: AFP