KUALA LUMPUR, 2 April 2018:
Four goals by team captain Mohd Zaquan Adha Abdul Razak propelled the national football team to taste victory when they routed Bhutan 7-0 in an international friendly match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil here last night.
The results also saw Harimau Malaya, ranked 178th in the world, ending its 12-match winless streak after the team’s last win against Cambodia in a 2016 AFF Cup match.
The squad under Tan Cheng Hoe, who displayed a neat and disciplined performance in the game, opened the score in the 11th minute when Wan Zack Haikal Wan Nor nodded in a Mohd Zaquan pass.
Eight minutes later, Mohd Zaquan doubled the score through a penalty after Wan Zack was brought down by Bhutanese defender in the penalty box, before Muhammad Irfan Zakaria headed in the ball from a corner kick taken by Wan Zack in the 27th minute.
Mohd Zaquan was on target again in the 37th when he slotted the ball past goalkeeper Kinzang Gyeltshen to put Malaysia four up against Bhutan, ranked 188th in the world, who also suffered 0-7 humiliation by Maldives in a 2019 Asian Cup qualifying match on Wednesday.
Mohd Zaquan completed a hat trick three minutes later when a Bhutanese defender failed to clear the ball in the penalty box – which he pounced on to slam in Malaysia’s fifth goal.
Harimau Malaya continued to show their fangs in the second half and before long the 30-year-old captain found the net for the fourth time in the 54th minute by blasting in a cross from Nazirul Naim Che Hashim.
The last goal was scored by Muhammad Syafiq Ahmad in the 74th minute – who headed in a corner kick – to record the first win for Harimau Malaya at Nasional Stadium since beating Thailand 3-2 in the 2014 AFF Cup final despite losing 4-3 on aggregate score.
It is also the first win for Cheng Hoe after taking over as chief coach from Nelo Vingada.
Earlier Cheng Hoe led Malaysia to a 2-2 draw against Mongolia in an international friendly match before losing 1-2 to Lebanon in Beirut in the final 2019 Asian Cup qualifying match on Tuesday.
At the post-match press conference, Cheng Hoe described the massive victory as a great gift to Malaysian football fans.
“Praise is due to the players and all involved for the hard work they put in to deliver this outstanding result. We have to take it from here and go on tp produce good results down the road.”
Bhutan coach Trevor James Morgan said he was unhappy with the result, especially after seeing his team also being thumped by Maldives 7-0 in their 2019 AFC Asian Cup Qualifying Group D match last Wednesday.
“I didn’t expect, you know, 14 goals (conceded) in two games….it doesn’t look good but this is what it is…you make mistakes and you get punished. For me, it’s a learning process as well since this is my second match with the team and there’s much more to improve.”
– Bernama