PHUKET: The South-East Asian top football crown remained elusive for Malaysia when they crashed out of the Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup tournament with a 0-3 defeat by Thailand at the Surakul Stadium yesterday.
The team coached by B. Sathianathan was given the uphill task to reach the final but ended up not making the semi-final for the second time since the biennial tournament began in 1996.
Malaysia needed a comfortable win over the Thais but the defeat saw them finishing with just three points gained from the 3-0 win over Laos. The 2-3 defeat by Vietnam on Monday proved to be a disaster for Malaysia as they could hardly cope with the hosts.
Three-time champion Thailand, who were the runners-up in the last tournament, took the top spot in Group B with nine points from their 2-0 win over Vietnam and 6-0 rout of Laos. Vietnam beat Laos 4-0 in their final group fixture to join the Thais in the semi-final.
Thailand will play against Indonesia in the two-leg semi-finals while Vietnam will be up against defending champions Singapore.
“We already missed our chance after the defeat by Vietnam. It’s not easy to go into a match and want to win against a strong team like Thailand. If we had won or drawn with Vietnam, the task would have been easier,” said Sathianathan, whose job is at stake.
Malaysia made two changes to their starting line-up against Thailand. Goalkeeper Mohd Helmi Eliza Elias, whose costly blunder in the final minutes of the match against Vietnam resulted in defeat for Malaysia, was replaced by Liverpool-born Syed Adney Syed Hussein while Mohd Juzaili Samion came in for Mohd Daudsu Jamaludin.
Malaysia looked more dangerous in their moves in the early minutes. But Syed Adney was almost caught off-guard by Thai skipper Datsakorn Thonglao, who took a long shot that hit the bar in the 17th minute. But the Malaysian goalkeeper recovered in time to block Suchao Nutnum’s shot off the rebound.
Thailad took the lead in the 22nd minute. Sutee Suksomkit was given space and time by the Malaysian defence as he coolly blasted the ball past Syed Adney.
Malaysia’s campaign in the tournament was as good as over just 35 seconds into the second half. A sloppy defence allowed Teerasil Dangda to tap the ball over Syed Adney.
Thailand made it more miserable for Malaysia with the third goal, again from Teerasil, who dashed past the Malaysian defenders to slot the ball into the net.
Sathianathan said the defence was not disciplined enough and conceding the second goal early on in the second half was costly indeed.
“I can’t have the team to play defensively as we need to win the match. But I am happy with the players’ fighting spirit ... they never gave up,” he said. — Bernama