Malaysia U20 national team playing the last match in this round losing to Korea Republic U20 national team with a score of 2-6 in the AFC U20 Asian Cup 2023 Qualifiers at MFF Football Centre, Ulaanbaatar.
From the beginning of the match, Korea Republic often put pressure on the country when it was easy to sneak into the penalty box area. However, the defense including the Malaysian goalkeeper performed brilliantly denying several dangerous attempts.
Malaysia’s squad also had a chance to score the opening goal in the 27th minute but Haiqal Haqeemi’s shot was easily deflected by the South Korean goalkeeper.
When they were in the middle of attacking, Korea Republic managed to punish the national defense’s negligence through a counterattack in the 33rd minute which was finished by Lee Youngjun’s shot for the first goal.
The action in the second half was more lively when both teams attacked each other. However, South Korea managed to score a second goal through Bae Junho.
However, the goal did not break the spirit of Malaysia to continue hunting for the first goal and as a result, Adam Farhan closed the gap in the 54th minute when his shot managed to beat the opposing goalkeeper.
Two minutes later, Korea Republic went back in front through a counter-attack and was finished off by Lee Seungwon’s shot in the 56th minute.
Stunned by the goal, Malaysia still got up to hunt for an equalizer to find at least a draw and their efforts paid off when Aliff Izwan scored the second goal in the 67th minute.
When Malaysia was trying to make a comeback, they were once again punished by South Korea’s fast attack. Two goals in a row were successfully scored by the opposing team as well as killing the revival of the country’s young squad.
In fact, the national squad also had to play with 10 players after the referee showed a red card to the team captain, Ubaidullah Shamsul in the 66th minute.
Korea Republic also managed to score the 6th goal through a penalty kick in the last minute of the match, thus destroying the dream of Malaysia U20 to play in the AFC U20 Asian Cup in Uzbekistan next year.
Credit Photo : AFC
