The International Friendly Match (Tier 1), which Malaysia today played against Maldives in the Stadium of Kuala Lumpur, Cheras. This game is the last friendly match for Harimau Malaya, where they will prepare for the upcoming AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup 2022. A former FIFA World Cup star is in town where the Maldives head coach, Francesco Moriero, was a part of Italy’s 1998 World Cup Squad.
Kim Pan Goon shuffled a bit on the first eleven, where Safawi Rasid was the captain, Syihan Hazmi was the keeper and Brendan Gan, Mukhairi Ajmal, and Dominic Tan were all in the first eleven for today’s game.
The excitement started in the 10th minute when Brendan Gan crossed the ball from the right, and it saw Darren Lok waiting for it. He turned around and fired; unfortunately, the Maldives keeper alerted and blocked it.
Then after that, Safawi Rasid had a chance to shoot, but the Maldives’ backline blocked it.
Harimau Malaya finally broke the deadlock at 23th minutes, where a mistake cost a goal. The Maldives’ backline carelessly gave away the ball to Darren Lok. Darren Lok grabbed the chance and shot the ball. Malaysia 1 – 0 Maldives.
The 38th minute was another turning point where Malaysia could have scored one more. Safawi Rasid took the free kick, and it nearly went in.
Harimau Malaya was the better side in the second half, where the attacking kept coming. And in the 64th minute, Faisal Halim scored through a pass by Darren Lok. Malaysia now has two goals whereas Maldives remain 0. Shortly after that, Faisal Halim again launched an attack against the Maldives, but the curler was out of frame.
This match also saw the young player Aliff Haiqal’s debut for Harimau Malaya, and he nearly scored a goal outside the box. Then, substitute Lee Tuck almost rewrote the score, but the header saw the post. In the 88th minute, Lee Tuck finally scored after numerous trials. Sergio Aguero assisted him. Malaysia 3, Maldives 0.
The official added four extra minutes before ending the game. Malaysia is still attacking aggressively.
Match ended with Malaysia 3, Maldives 0. The Harimau Malaya will now prepare for the AFF Mitsubish Electronic Cup 2022 Group Stage, where they will face Myanmar on 21 Dec 2022.
