Kim Swee’s men pay the late penalty as Japan break Malaysian hearts
THE Malaysian Under-23 team gave Japan a strong fight but a late penalty y conceded towards the end of the game ended their hopes of advancing to the quarter-finals.
Malaysia went down 1-0 to Japan thanks to substitute Ayase Ueda’s spot-kick in the 88th minute at the Patriot Chandrabhaga Stadium in Bekasi yesterday.
Malaysian coach Datuk Ong Kim Swee returned to his first XI after fielding eight reserves in their last group match and they help up well against Japan’s onslaught.
Goalkeeper Haziq Nadli was equal to Japanese striker Daizen Maede’s attempts, denying him a number of times.
Malaysia also had several chances but were let down by poor finishing.
It was the same affair in the second half, as Malaysia opted to defend and launch counter-attacks through their attacking triumvirate of Safawi Rasid, Akhyar Rashid and Syafiq Ahmad.
The trio proved to be a thorn to the Japanese backline and Safawi rattled the Japanese goalpost twice in the 80th and 83rd minutes as Malaysia grew in cofidence.
However, disaster struck two minutes before time as defender Dominic Tan felled a rampaging Ayase in the box forcing referee Bijan Heiradi of Iran to point to the spot.
Ayase showed no sign of nerves as he calmly blasted the spot-kick home for the winner.
Malaysia tried to mount a comeback but it proved too late as their adventure ended in the last 16 again.