Malaysia take huge step towards 2018 Finals
Paju: Malaysia produced their best performance to date in the AFC U-19 Championship 2018 Qualifiers to beat Indonesia 4-1 in a Group F tie at the Paju Stadium in Korea Republic on Monday.
The win, their third in as many matches, keeps Malaysia firmly on course for a berth in the Finals.
Malaysia needed only seven minutes to get the lead, as Muhammad Hadi Fayyadh (pictured above, No 10) converted a penalty.
Indonesia’s ceaseless efforts to recover started after that, but it was Malaysia again who doubled their lead with Muhammad Akhyar Abdul Rashid’s (pictured below) neat finish in one-on-one situation.
In the 43rd minute, Indra Syafri’s side pulled one back as Hanis Saghara Putra buried a rebound right in front of the goalkeeper.
However, Shivan Pillay Asokan restored Malaysia's advantage with a powerful header two minutes into the second half.
Five minutes later, Fayyadh netted his second goal of the match with another penalty as Malaysia edged closer to the Finals.
Bojan Hodak: Malaysia Head Coach
“I am very satisfied with today’s result. Another positive side of us is that we are improving match by match. The last tie against Korea Republic will be the toughest one in the campaign, but we will go all out to face them.”
Indra Syafri: Indonesia Head Coach
“As a host of the Finals, we did not have a big pressure for the qualifier. However, we took advantage of the matches to do tactical experiments and to arrange ourselves for the main stage our our home soil. Despite today’s defeat, we have gained much experience.”
Photos: AFC
Source: the-afc.com
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