SINGAPORE - BY
PATRICK JOHNSTON
Malaysian
football is enduring some troubled times and the performance of their under-23
side at the Southeast Asian Games has failed to lift the mood.
A
1-0 loss to Thailand at a steamy Bishan Stadium in Singapore on Thursday left
them all but out of contention for a place in the semi-finals of the biennial
multi-sport Games for the 11-member bloc.
Following
a 5-1 mauling by Vietnam on Tuesday, the Thai match was a must-win if they were
to grab one of the two qualifying spots but Malaysia were mostly in defensive
mode against the region's best.
A
brilliant 81st minute low, fizzing strike by skipper Sarach Yooyen from the
edge of the area finally ended Malaysia's resistance.
"Thailand
and Vietnam are definitely on top of us at the moment," Malaysian coach
Ong Kim Swee told reporters.
"I
said before the tournament, we have no stars only average players."
The
expected departure marks a sorry tournament for the Malaysians, winners of the
tournament in 2009 and 2011.
Their
opening 1-0 win over East Timor was marred by a red card and a subsequent
six-match ban for midfielder Mohd Nazmi Faiz Mansor after he was found guilty
of spitting at an opponent. He was sent home by the team.
"Even
in our opening game against Timor Leste, we did not look like a team capable of
playing to win the gold medal," Malaysian chef de mission Seri Norza
Zakaria was quoted as saying by local media on Thursday.
"The
players must realise the high expectations heaped on football... 70 percent of
the news written in the media back home is about football. So, Malaysians
deserve better."
Some
Malaysian fans have already voiced their displeasure.
The
Ultras Malaya supporters group lambasted the Football Association of Malaysia
for arranging a lucrative friendly against English side Tottenham Hotspur prior
to the SEA Games and not doing more for the under-23 side's preparations.
Ong
said three weeks with the under-23 side was not enough.
"It's
not a blaming game, we have to sit back and look at our programme. We cannot
say (it was) only our preparation," he said.
Some
from the SEA Games squad are likely to feature in the senior side when Malaysia
kick-off their World Cup qualifying campaign next Thursday at home to East
Timor in Kuala Lumpur.
A
win is expected but little else after being pooled in a tough Group A which
also features Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Palestine -- three
finalists at the Asian Cup in January.
Only
the group winners are guaranteed a chance to advance. For Malaysia, ranked
162nd by FIFA, winning their own tournaments have proved a tough ask of late.
Singapore's
Lions XII lifted the Malaysian FA Cup for the first time last month.
(Editing
by Sudipto Ganguly) Pic.
Malaysia's Gary Steven Robbat (C) in action with Timor Leste's Jairo Pinheiro
Palmeira Neto (L). Photo: SINGSOC/Action Images via Reuters
REUTERS
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