KUALA LUMPUR: The goal scored by Harimau Malaya striker Muhammad Faisal Abdul Halim or ‘Mickey’ as he is known among his peers, was voted as the Best Goal of the 2023 Asian Cup hosted by Qatar from Jan 12 to Feb 10.
The selection of the goal was announced by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) through its social media platform today, after voting was completed yesterday on the official website of the confederation, https://www.the-afc.com.
Muhammad Faisal, 26, scored the prized goal in the 3-3 draw against South Korea in a group match on on Jan 25.
The AFC had last Wednesday announced that eight of the 132 goals scored in the tournament were shortlisted for polling online.
Among the goals in the list that Faisal, the Selangor striker, had to overcome were the goal scored by Japan’s Keito Nakamura in the match against Vietnam (Jan 14), Saudi Arabia’s Abdulrahman Ghareeb’s goal against Oman (Jan 16), Qatar’s Hassan Al Haydos’ goal against China (Jan 22) and the goal from Thailand’s Supachok Sarachat against Uzbekistan (Jan 30).
Other goal scorers in the list were Jordan’s Mousa Al Tamari (against South Korea) on Feb 6, South Korea’s Son Heung-min against Australia on Feb 2, and Iran’s Sardar Azmoun against Qatar on Feb 7.
Just before the voting came to a close yesterday, the Penang-born Faisal had garnered 85 percent of the total votes. - Bernama
