As Cambodia battled against Timor Leste for the one point, Malaysia picked up their second win in Group A of the AFF Under-18 Championship for the fill six points from two matches played.
Cambodia drew Timor Leste 1-1 at the Thuwunna Stadium while Malaysia dumped Singapore 3-1 at the Aung San Stadium.
“We created a lot of chances but we could not find the right finish,” said Tray Vicheth. “We need to be better in front of goal.”
Both Cambodia and Timor Leste had gone into the match without a single point to their name and were in desperate need to inject more confidence with a win which would at least give them a fighting chance into the next round.
However, the tremendous heat would dictate the early pace of the game with the first goal coming in only in the 27th minute where off a corner, captain Chhoeung Visinu latched on to a loose ball for the lead.
Timor Leste made a battling performance into the second half and in the 58th minute, they duly found the equaliser off a header from Lourenco Xemenes.
“It was a very tough game but we tried very hard today,” said Xemenes afterwards. “We need to win the rest of our matches if we want to make the next round.”
In the meantime, Malaysia picked up their second win in the group with a 3-1 victory over Singapore – with all goals coming in after the break.
Muhammad Zafuan Azeman nailed the opener in the 58th minute, Ammar Akhmall Alias with the second in the 68th minute and then Muhammad Hadi Fayyadh Abdul Razak’s penalty a minute to the end.
Katz Saul Ellison scored the only goal for Singapore deep in injury time.
