Captain Dion Johan Cools was the opener for Malaysia’s disastrous penalty shootout against Tajikistan (lost 0-3). Photo: BH.
In the final match of King’s Cup 2022 with rival Tajikistan (109th in the world), Malaysia (146th) launched the strongest team with the desire to win the championship after 44 years.
Head coach Kim Pan-gon made many changes from the win against Thailand, with the introduction of Syafiq Ahmad, Akhyar Rashid, Nazmi Faiz Masor and naturalized star Mohamadou Sumareh from the start.
The combination of naturalization factors, Ma Kieu and stars in the domestic tournament helps Malaysia play fairly with representatives from Central Asia. One of Malaysia’s deadliest opportunities came in the 23rd minute with a Brendan Gan header.
The rainy weather and the bad ground due to Thailand and Trinidad & Tobago playing a few hours earlier greatly affected the quality of the match, making it impossible for both Malaysia and Tajikistan to handle the phase as desired. At the end of the first half, Malaysia was lucky when Mohamadou Sumareh did not receive a second yellow card after playing a trick with the opponent’s defender.
In the second half, Malaysia was still slightly ahead of the opponent and had clear scoring opportunities. One of them came in the 57th minute with Safawi Rasid’s long shot but saved by the Tajikistan goalkeeper.
Coach Kim Pan-gon’s players had a moment of slack and nearly paid the price when Rustam Soirov of Tajikistan put the ball into the net of goalkeeper Syihan Hazmi Mohamed but was disallowed for offside.
Draw 0-0, Malaysia and Tajikistan settled the match on penalties. Here, the stars of “Malay Tiger” include Dion Johan Cools, Nazmi Faiz Mansor and Safawi Rasid, with a heavy mentality, missed all three first shots.. Tajikistan team successfully completed 3 out of 4 shots and became the defending champion.
Ngoc Le – Zing.vn | 23:30 September 25, 2022
