Malaysia 1 - Thailand 1
The biggest game in south east asia, and probably the most long awaited football match between the two major football powerhouse in the region, blessed with the heavy rain poured on KL city few hours prior the kick off.
Massive traffic congestions on route to the stadium indicating strong support for the home team, as the fans put their effort to back the team. A nightmare to remember for Thailand was something certain.
75,000 loyal 'Harimau Malaya' supporters showcased the magnificent support with the electrifying atmosphere created around the ground. Thailand players regularly struggled to communicate due to the extreme level of noise generated. And they looked nervous for the opening 20 minutes.
However, the home team failed to capitalised this, the game stayed 0-0 at half time.
With the limitation faced by Dato' due to injuries and some players not 100% fit, I am fully understood why he was forced to field 4-5-1 as Nurshahrul played upfront alone.
The team managed to compete on one to one basis, i have to admire the wonderful work done by Amar Rohidan and Gary Steven Robbart. Baddrol Bakhtiar have little to offer by playing out wide, some of his touches and vision seems faded away. He need to move away and play for bigger Super League clubs to improve his game.
Despite took the lead 2 minutes after the interval, the home team never looked threatening to double up the lead. Malaysia lost the grip of the game when Dato' revert back to his favourite 4-4-2 as Safee Sali joined Nurshahrul Idlan in attack. The substitution weaken the midfield as Safiq Rahim obviously lack of pace in tracking back the Thailand attackers. They were outnumbered in midfield and that was the turning point where Thailand finally got a grip to the game and has started to play at their strength.
The visiting team slowly building confidence as they sprayed the ball around to stretch Malaysia out wide. The well taken header by Teerasil in 75'minutes was a deserved one to be fair. Malaysia allowed Thailand to increase their influence in the game, oftenly saw the ball moving across in front of the 'D' area. That equaliser also exposed the lack of height in the Malaysian centre backs pair.
There were couple of chances for Safee and Nurshahrul, but a good goalkeeping saved Thailand. A big task for Harimau Malaya in the return leg, as they need a win to progress. A nil nil draw will end Malaysia's campaign in their bid to defend the cup.
I also take this opportunity, to condemn those irresponsible hooligans who launched firecracker towards a section of visiting Thais supporters, and those who launched Lazer attack on the pitch.
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