Whipped again
Malaysia leak another four goals to North Korea
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia has ended their football season without a win.
Yesterday, the Harimau Malaya suffered their sixth loss of the year when they were whipped 4-1 again by North Korea in their 2019 Asian Cup Group B qualifying match at the I-Mobile Stadium in Buriram, Thailand.
Kim Yu-song was the star for world No. 132 North Korea, scoring a hattrick in the 15th, 20th and 44th minutes. Pak Kwang-ryong netted the other goal in the 79th minute.
Substitute Safawi Rasid scored Malaysia’s consolation in the 85th minute.
Malaysia’s hopes of qualifying for the 2019 Asian Cup Finals were long gone before yesterday’s encounter after losing 4-1 to North Korea last Friday.
World No. 170 Malaysia remain last in the four- team Group B standings with a point in five matches. They will wrap up their fixture in March against leaders Lebanon, on 10 points from four matches. North Korea are second with eight points followed by Hong Kong on five points.
Only the top two teams qualify for the Finals in the United Arab Emirates.
Malaysia coach Eduardo Vingada dished out a few surprises yesterday by giving four young players – striker Syafiq Ahmad, midfielders Ahmad Khairil Anuar Zamri and Nor Azam Abdul Azih and defender Adam Nor Azlin – their first international caps.
And there was no place for skipper Safiq Rahim, who missed Friday’s match due to suspension, as he was benched.
The North Koreans had an easy time and created all sorts of problems for the Malaysians. There was no cohesion in the Malaysian midfield with Ahmad Khairil and Nor Azam lost at sea.
So, it came as no surprise that Yu-song opened the scoring after only 15 minutes.
He outjumped centreback Adam to send a header home from a corner kick.
The 22-year-old Yu Song doubled the lead five minutes later by tapping in the ball from another corner-kick.
And he claimed his hattrick with a close-range shot just before halftime.
Down 3-0, Vingada brought in Safiq and his Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) teammate Fadhli Shas.
But the two veterans could do nothing to stop North Korea from scoring their fourth goal through Kwang-ryong.
North Korea then eased off, allowing Safawi to score a consolation in the 85th minute.