The Star Online
November 13

Uzbekistan clawed back from two goals down to hold Malaysia to a 2-2 draw in the South-East Asian Zone of the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Under-14 tournament at the Suppachalasai National Stadium in Bangkok yesterday.

The Malaysian boys had raced to a two-goal advantage through Ibnu Kassim in the third minute and Wan Mohamed Alif Wan Jasmi in the 19th minute but sadly allowed the Uzbeks to reduce the deficit in the 20th minute and a late equaliser three minutes before time.

After a chaotic start losing to hosts Thailand 1-4 in Saturday’s opening game, the Malaysians bounced back to whip Indonesia 7-0 on Monday and yesterday allowed Uzbekistan to pick up a point to put them in second spot in the table with seven points behind leader’s Thailand.

The hosts have already booked their spot in the final with nine points from three successive wins.

Malaysia with four points will wrap up their fixtures in the five-team round-robin tournament against winless Kyrgyzstan while host Thailand will play Uzbekistan today.

Coach K. Sukumaran said his boys paid the price for their lapse of concentration and succumbed to the pressure despite holding the upper hand.

“They are fit but weak in their mental strength. If they had held on we should be in the drivers seat to qualify for the final,’’ said Sukumaran.

Malaysia will now have to wait for the outcome between the Thailand and Uzbekistan match before they know their chances of entering the final.

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