BANGKOK: Harimau Muda have ended the nation’s eight-year wait for a SEA Games medal in football after beating the Philippines 2-1 in the bronze-medal playoff at the Rajamangala Stadium on Thursday (Dec 18).
Malaysia broke the deadlock in the 27th minute when wingback Danish Hakimi Sahaluddin capitalised on a defensive melee by the Filipino team.
But the Malaysian team were constantly bombarded by superb throw-ins from the Philippines’ fullback Antoine Artega, which caused lots of scary moments.
And Ortega’s hands did the magic when his throw-in from 15m fooled the Malaysian defence and was headed in by Haqimi Azim Rosli into his own net in the 36th minute.
Haqimi though made amends when he scored the second and winning goal in the 42nd minute.
Thanks to a superb through pass from Haykal Danish Mohd Haizon, Haqimi beat Filipino goalkeeper Nicholas Guimaraes to provide the winner.
Malaysia last won a medal - a silver at the 2017 Kuala Lumpur Games.
