A late goal from substitute Alif Daniel Abdul Aziz gave Malaysia a hard fought 1-0 win over Myanmar in the classification match here this afternoon at the Delta Sidoarjo Stadium.
The win has at least given the Malaysian team some measure of solace after failing to make the final this year.
“We played better than we did in the last match. We attacked and defended as a team. We were more compact,” said Malaysian head coach Raja Azlan Shah.
“Finishing third is good but I was more concerned with the performance and I think that the players have improved a lot through this tournament.”
With motivation not what it should be as it was a classification match, still both teams put up some decent attacking manoeuvres to entertain the several thousand fans who had started to throng the arena.
While Myanmar created the first few chances off Zaw Win Thein, the Malaysians only came alive after the break with a double from Muhammad Syukur Fariz Januri.
Two minutes to the end, a cross from Megat Syafique Syazwan Mohd Khairul from the right was latched on by Alif, whose weak grounder caught Myanmar keeper Nay Lin Htet off guard as the ball bounced off the upright and into goal.
“The keeper was out of position. Our team is a little inexperienced. We are trying to build a team and we have started programmes for the youth,” added Myanmar head coach Nyi Nyi Latt afterwards.
