SHAH ALAM: Amri Yahyah seems to have a knack of scoring against top foreign clubs.
On Saturday, the 32-year-old Selangor hitman was at it again when he scored Malaysia’s solitary goal in their 3-1 loss to Barcelona at the Shah Alam Stadium.
The Tanjung Karang-born Amri unleashed a powerful shot from outside the penalty box in the 40th minute to beat Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes to draw Malaysia level at 1-1. The goal sent the 40,000 crowd into a frenzy.
Previously, Amri scored a brace against English Premier League giants Manchester United in a friendly at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil in 2009. Malaysia, however, lost 3-2.
The right-footed Amri, who represented Malaysia in the 2003 Hanoi SEA Games, was delighted to score against the Catalan side who fielded a world class line-up which included Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Neymar, Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique.
“It was a good experience playing against Barcelona. But I never thought that I would score a goal them when I took to the field,” said Amri, who helped Selangor to win the treble – Premier League, FA Cup and Malaysia Cup - in 2005.
If he had to choose, Amri said the goal against Gerardo Martino’s side was more meaningful than the two goals he scored against United.
“Barca are now one of the top teams in Europe, if not the world. The goal also inspired my team-mates and it showed that if we play well we can score against any top teams in the world,” said Amri.
For Amri, he has now set his sights on helping Malaysia beat Bahrain in the Asian Cup qualifying match on Oct 15.
“We need to train harder and believe that we can do well in matches. If we can score against Barcelona, we can definitely score against Bahrain,” said Amri, who helped Malaysia to win their first AFF Suzuki Cup in 2010.
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