Harimau Malaya The national football team walked away winners for the first time in 11 years against Vietnam after beating them 4-0 in the second 2027 Asian Cup Group F qualifying match at Bukit Jalil National Stadium here tonight.
Sporting a lineup of new heritage players, Peter Cklamovski’s still had to spend the first half trying to get on the same wavelength and struggled to find gaps in Vietnam’s defence.
Their aggressive play did nearly result in a goal in the 35th minute when Dion Cools sent a blistering shot from outside the penalty box that unfortunately hit the right goalpost.
The Harimau Malaya squad managed to get into gear in the second half, and new heritage player Joao Figueiredo scored in the 49th minute when his shot deflected off Vietnamese keeper Nguyen Filip into the net to make it 1-0 in favour of the hosts.
Fellow heritage player Rodrigo Holgado kept the momentum up and scored from inside the penalty box 10 minutes later, and the Malaysians, sensing that the match had truly shifted in their favour, continued to press their opponents and were rewarded with a 67th minute goal by Corbin Ong.
Finally, Cools made up for his missed shot at goal in the first half with a header in the 89th minute, capping a truly amazing performance for the team.
The 4-0 victory means that Malaysia has taken the lead in Group F with six points, while Vietnam is now second with three points. Laos is third, also with three points, courtesy of their 2-1 win over Nepal in the other Group F qualifer in Laos and Nepal is last with no points.
Malaysia will travel to Laos on Oct 9 for their third Group F match.
