Malaysia down Myanmar to top group in AFF Under-19 meet

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia maintained their unbeaten streak to advance to the semi-finals of the AFF Under-19 championship.

They beat Myanmar 1-0, thanks to A. Shivan Pillay’s winner in the 17th minute, in their final Group B match at the Gelora Joko Samudro Stadium in Gresik, Indonesia, yesterday.

Team coach Bojan Hodak had to play the game without winger Akhyar Rashid who was sidelined with a shoulder injury.

“We dominated the match and scored only one goal despite having two or three clear chances. Myanmar only had one attempt on our goal in the game.

“I’m also happy that we ended our group campaign conceding only one goal in four matches,” said Hodak yesterday.

“We are getting better from match to match. Last year we had two weeks’ preparation for AFF Under- 19 championship and three weeks for AFC Under- 19 qualifier.”

“This year we only had two days with the full squad so the players are slowly gelling as a unit.”

Hodak’s boy top the group with 10 points from four matches and will meet Group A runners- up Indonesia in the semi-final tomorrow.

The started their campaign in Indonesia with a 2-0 win over Cambodia on Wednesday.

Then they beat Brunei 2- 0 on Friday for their second win but were held to a 1-1 draw by Timor Leste on Sunday.

Hodak said the will be without Akhyar and fullback Gerald Gadit who will be sent home to undergo Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to assess the extent of their injuries.

Malaysia had previously beaten the Indonesian team 4-1 in the AFC Under-19 qualifiers in South Korea last November but Hodak said that the circumstances are different this time.

“Indonesia had their final group game yesterday so they have one day extra to rest. They also had a 7pm kick-off.

“Our final group game was played at 3.30pm under the hot sun,” said the Croatian coach.

“We beat Indonesia 4-1 but we are playing under a different weather condition and they will have the full home crowd behind them in the game.”