PETALING JAYA: Malaysia faced a humiliating defeat and no chance of getting to the quarter-final of the AFC Under-23 Asian Cup on Sunday (June 5).
The team looked listless and devoid of ideas as they were humbled by regional rivals Thailand 0-3 in their second Group C encounter at the Miliiy Stadium in Tashkent on Sunday.
Harimau Muda, coached by Brad Maloney, had possession and chances in the first 20 minutes, but after that, it was all Thailand.
Suphanat Muenta got the ball rolling in the 22nd minute when he capitalised on a long diagonal pass from Nicholas Mickelsen by unleashing a shot that Harith Haiqal Adam Afkar inadvertently deflected into Malaysia’s goal.
In the second-half, Maloney brought on Aiman Afif Afizul and Hadi Fayyadh Abdul Razak to bring some bite into Malaysia’s attack, and they had some impact in the first 15 minutes of the second half.
Hadi was guilty of missing a good chance in the 60th minute when he took advantage of a defensive mistake by Wachat Choosong, but the Japanese-based striker’s attempted placed shot was easily smothered by Nopphon Lakhonphon.
Thailand got their second in the 68th minute when Mickelsen again played provider, but this time with a superbly executed cross that Channarong Promsrikaew easily finished.
Four minutes later, Muenta got his second when he received a through pass from Ben Davis and easily slotted the ball past Malaysian goalkeeper Rahadiazli Rahalim.
With no points from two matches, Malaysia have no chance of getting to the quarter-final.
In their previous campaign in 2018, they qualified for the quarter-final, losing to South Korea 1-2 in that stage.
