Malaysia take slim lead

MALAYSIA inched closer to creating World Cup history in the Asian Zone Qualifiers by edging Taiwan 2-1 at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

The national team have never qualified for the second round since making their first appearance in the qualifiers in 1973.

They, however, need to get past Taiwan in the return leg on Sunday to qualify for the second stage, where Singapore await them.

But national coach K. Rajagobal was unhappy with his players' performance, as they played well only in patches.

"We failed to maintain our tempo after taking a 2-0 lead. Our defence allowed Taiwan to hit back with a soft goal. It is going to be tough in the return leg as Taiwan will definitely be more offensive," he said.

Rajagobal also confirmed that Safee Sali will not play in the return leg.

"He (Safee) suffered a hard knock in the first half. I don't think he can recover in time. We face a difficult situation as I will need to reshuffle my strikeforce with Norshahrul (Idlan Talaha) still recovering from injury."

Taiwan coach Lo Chih Tsung warned that his team will be very offensive in the return leg.

"We came here to get an away goal. We have accomplished our mission. Taiwan will play attacking football in the return leg," said Chih Tsung.

Captain Safiq Rahim was Malaysia's hero by scoring a goal and creating another in Bukit Jalil.

The midfielder's powerful strike in the 28th minute was followed up with his near perfect corner kick for Mohd Aidil Zafuan Abd Radzak to score the second in the 54th minute.

Malaysia, who paraded eight players from the AFF Cup winning team, started in furious pace in front of about 45,000 local fans in the stadium.

In the second minute, Malaysia were denied a penalty when Baddrol Bakhtiar, upon a receiving a pass from Safee Sali, was brought down in the Taiwanese box but Thailand referee Mahapab Chaiya waved play on.

The homesters continued to press forward with left flanker S. Kunalan, Baddrol and Safiq, all having decent chances in the opening 20 minutes.

Taiwan held their ground with their well planned game. In the 12th minute, a curling free kick from midfielder Lo Chih An found striker Chang Han, whose close range shot was saved by Malaysia goalkeeper Sharbinee Allawee.

But Malaysia's fortunes changed a minute after Rajagobal made a tactical change by bringing on striker Abdul Hadi Yahya for rightback Helmi Remeli.

Midfielder Amirulhadi Zainal moved into the right back position while Baddrol and Kunalan switched roles in midfield.

Abdul Hadi immediately turned on the heat with a brilliant pass to Kunalan, who in turn set the ball for Safiq at the edge of the penalty box.

Safiq then floated in a powerful shot past Taiwan's keeper Lin Po Cheng for only his second international goal in the 28th minute.

Rajagobal made a surprise move by substituting Safee with Negri Sembilan striker Ahmad Fakri Saraani for the second half.

Safee, who was carrying a leg injury after Tuesday's training session, suffered a hamstring injury in the first half.

But Ahmad Fakri's absence for over two months from competitive matches was felt by the striker when he missed a sitter from close range in the 51st minute.

Safiq turned provider in the 54th minutes when his corner kick found centre-back Aidil Zafuan, who rose above the rest to head home Malaysia's second goal.

Malaysia were heading for a comfortable victory but Taiwan silenced the local fans with an important away goal in the 75th minute. Midfielder Chen Po Liang's grounder just inside the box was enough to beat keeper Sharbinee.

RESULTS -- Asia Zone World Cup Qualifying (1st rd, 1st leg): Cambodia 4 Laos 2, Nepal 2 East Timor 1, Mongolia 1 Myanmar 0, Sri Lanka 1 Philiipines 1, Afghanistan 0 Palestine 2, Bangladesh 3 Pakistan 0, Vietnam 6 Macau 0, Malaysia 2 Taiwan 1.

Read more: Football / World Cup Qualifiers: Malaysia take slim lead http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/43malead-2/Article#ixzz1Qlewmgnq




Ajitpal Singh and Devinder Singh
nstsport@nstp.com.my