Young Tigers close the campaign in Qatar without any victory
24/04/2024
Young Tigers close the campaign in Qatar without any victory
KUALA LUMPUR: The national Under-23 (U-23) squad closed the 2024 U-23 Asian Cup campaign without any victory after losing 1-2 to Kuwait in the last match of Group D at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar early this morning.
The result saw the squad managed by Juan Torres Garrido end the campaign at the bottom of the group without any points after losing 0-2 respectively to Uzbekistan and Vietnam in the first two matches.
In the action against Kuwait, the pace of the Harimau Muda squad was affected when they had to play with 10 men after Sikh goalkeeper Izhan Nazrel Sikh Azman was shown a red card at the end of the first half following a foul on Kuwaiti captain Salman Mohammed outside the penalty box.
Striker Luqman Hakim Shamsudin had to be sacrificed by Garrido by bringing in substitute goalkeeper Muhammad Firdaus Irman Mohd Fadhil to fill the gap in goal that Sikh Izhan had to leave.
However, Malaysia fell behind at the end of the extra time of the first period which lasted up to 15 minutes through a penalty which was completed by Salman after Muhamad Umar Hakeem Suhar Rezwan was blamed for fouling Talal Al Qaisi as a result of a review of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system.
Muhammad Mukhairi Ajmal Mahadi missed the chance to equalize for Malaysia in the 56th minute when he failed to finish Muhammad Haqimi Azim Rosli's cross before Muhammad Firdaus saved a one-on-one attempt against Salman in the 59th minute.
However, a minute later, Malaysia was under more pressure when the opposing team managed by Emilio Peixe managed to widen the position after Talal headed in Sultan Al Faraj's cross.
Entering the last 10 minutes of the match, Salman was ordered off the field after being shown a red card by referee Alexander King from Australia following a hard tackle on Muhamad Umar Hakeem in the 83rd minute, thus seeing both teams forced to end the action with 10 players.
The score remained 2-1 in Kuwait's favor until the final whistle was blown, allowing Peixe's men to overtake Malaysia to finish third in Group D by collecting one point, but still failed to qualify for the quarter-finals.
In the 2022 edition in Uzbekistan, the Harimau Muda squad also failed to record any victory in the group stage after creating a sensation by advancing to the quarter-finals in the 2018 edition in China.
In the meantime, Uzbekistan advanced to the quarter-finals as champions of Group D after defeating the team that also confirmed the ticket to the knockout round, Vietnam 3-0 in another action at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha. - BERNAMA
Under 23 Asian Cup in Doha, Malaysia v Kuwait. Amazing turnout by the Malaysian diaspora to support our beloved country. Hope to get 3 points today.@hannahyeoh @AdamAdli @anwaribrahim @LimYiWei4MY @GobindSinghDeo pic.twitter.com/N3YG0Ln2Eg
— Jagjit Singh 🇲🇾 (@jagjit7) April 23, 2024
