Malaysia shown exit in semi-finals
MALAYSIA’S hopes of making the cerebral palsy football final in the Kuala Lumpur Para Games were dashed after being edged 3-2 by defending champions Thailand in the semi-finals.
Muhammad Khairi Ismail gavee Malaysia the lead in the 16th minute, muchuch to the delight of the Malaysian fans at the C1 field of the National Sports Council in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
But Wanna Nattapong equalised in the 27th minute before Malaysia regained the lead after an own goal by Thaohong Narongchai in the 39th minute.
Wanna then got his second in the 56th minute before Suksang Sanya’s late goal in added time broke Malaysian hearts. Thailand will meet Indonesia in the final. Indonesia thrashed Singapore 6-0 in the other semi-final.
Malaysia will meet Singapore in the bronze-medal playoff at the C2 field today. Malaysia lost 2-1 to Singapore in the bbronze medal playoff at the 2015 SSingapore Games.
National head coach Asnan Mohd Zuki said that his first task would be to motivate his crestfallen players.
“I’m still very proud of them. We only trained for three months for this competition,” said Asnan.
“The players are all disappointed and I need to lift their morale. They did well against Thailand by getting the early goal, but they lost focus because they were too eager to score. Instead, they ended up conceding the late goal. “I will get help from the National Sports Institute’s (ISN) pyschologist to lift their spirits.”
Asnan admitted that winning the bronze would be scant reward for the players. However, he has promised to take the match against Singapore seriously.
Malaysia had earlier beaten Singapore 5-3 in their Group A opening match on Tuesday.