Malaysia get the better of gutsy Mongolia
Malaysia made a host of changes to their squad and overcame a determined Mongolian side 2-0 to raise their tally in Group H to six points, which might prove sufficient to carry them to the AFC U23 Championship in China next year.
Hosts Thailand were to take on Indonesia in their last match of the qualifying stage last night at Supachalasai Stadium.
The winners of the 10 qualifying groups plus the five best runners-up advance to finals.
After suffering a 7-0 hammering at the hands of Indonesia on Friday, Mongolia surprised everyone by playing attractive, attacking football to force their highly fancied opponents onto the back foot for most of the first half, which ended in a goalless stalemate.
Malaysia, who will be hosting the 2017 SEA Games next month, found their rhythm in the second half and were given a 1-0 advantage by Thanabalan Nadarajah five minutes after the break.
Mongolia, who had surprised Thailand by holding them to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday, made several attempts to get back into the game but found themselves on the receiving end when Muhammad Syazwan scored the second for Malaysia in the 86th minute.
Malaysia coach Ong Kim Swee said: “We had to make some changes to the team. It has been a tiring tournament. We needed some fresh legs for this game and Mongolia did make things difficult for us.
“I am happy that we have given ourselves a chance to reach the finals.”
Mongolia coach Hans Weiss said: “We are happy with the way our team played here.
“This is a squad preparing for the future. We are taking lots of experience back to Mongolia.”