Malaysia scores surprise win in pre-Olympic football meet

AKMAL: His 85th goal helped Malaysia hold China to a 1-1 draw

Thestar - Malaysia pulled off a major surprise in the pre-Olympic Asian Finals football campaign in Group A when they fought from a goal down to hold fancied China to a 1-1 draw at the Wuhan Stadium here Saurday night. 

National striker Akmal Rizal Rakhli was the hero for the Malaysian Under-23 squad when he latched onto a through ball from hard working Mohamed Fadzli Shaari to coolly slot in a stiff grounder past Chinese goalkeeper An Qi from the left top corner of the box in the 85th minute. 

China, who had expected to win by an avalanche of goals with the advantage of playing in front of their home fans, got off to a cracking start with Xu Liang putting the home team ahead with a powerful header off a corner kick in the 20th minute. 

But the early fire from the Chinese team surprisingly fizzled out, as the Malaysians were fortunate to keep the score down. Goalkeeper Syamsuri Mustaffa was easily the busiest man on the pitch pulling off several fine saves in the first half. 

The Malaysian defense, led by center back Norhafiz Zamani Misbah, who came after a three-month layoff, did very well to marshal the back line and to frustrate the physically stronger Chinese forwards in the second half of the game. 

China, who had lost their opening game to South Korea 0-1, would rue the numerous misses including striker's Cao Ming's point blank attempt from the top of the box, which hit the woodwork in the 67th minute. 

Malaysia after a sloppy first half gave a much better performance in the other half and surprisingly took the game to the Chinese. 

Akmal, who had performed poorly in the first half, had his first real look at goal when he missed the target by inches after beating his marker in the 70th minute. 

Fadzli Shaari and Indra Putra Mahayuddin kept Malaysia on the offensive. Fadzli seized an opening and sent Akmal through to fire in the equalizer with five minutes on the clock. 

National coach Allan Harris' warning to the players not to let their guards down until the final whistle paid off as the Malaysian defense kept a tight hold to keep off the Chinese raids despite the match going five minutes into stoppage time. 

Malaysia, who had lost their opening game to Iran 1-4 at home, will now face favorites of the group South Korea in the third game at the MPPJ Stadium in Kelana Jaya on Wednesday. 

The Koreans have taken a head start with two straight wins scoring identical 1-0 wins over Iran and China.