Never say never. Timor Leste proved that in football nothing is predictable when they beat Malaysia 3-2 in the crucial game of Group A of the AFF Vietcombank Under-19 Championship here at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Centre.
The win was Timor Leste’s first in the history of the competition dating back to 2005.
“It is not easy to predict before they game that we will beat Malaysia,” said Timor Leste head coach Shigeo Yamazaki.
“We have the ability and I told the players that they will just have to work hard and look for the holes to score and that was what we did today.”
If there was anything that was predictable today it was that the Malaysian team was unpredictable. They did just enough to win two matches previously but this time round, Timor would present a totally different set of problems.
Fast in the counter and never giving Malaysia even an inch of space, this frustrates the Malaysian and as their indiscipline began to show, it was Timor who began to get closer to goal.
With Frangcyatma Ime Keli’s 14th minute freekick rocking the Malaysian crossbar and Rufino Gama doing no better moments later, the goal finally came in the 32nd minute.
It was Frangcyatma who was in the thick of the action as he shot in off a square from Feliciano Goncalves as he then doubled the advantage four minutes later off a tight angle.
Malaysia managed to pull a goal back just before the break when Muhammad Jafri Chew slotted home from inside the box.
The second game continued very much in the same vein as it had been in the first with Timor fighting for everything while the frustration continues for Malaysia.
And while Malaysia did managed to score the second equaliser when Muhammad Danial Ashraf Abdullah fired in from 20metres out, their failure to maintain discipline at the back allowed Timor to snatch the winner.
A cross from the right off Joao Pedro Freitas and as the Malaysian defence was taking their time to clear, came Gelvanio Alberto to stab the ball home.
“We did not have any training before coming here, so what do you expect?” said Malaysian assistant coach Aminnuddin Hussin afterwards.
“We have some problems with injuries and that has forced us to make changes to the line-up. We have the technical ability but the consistency was not there.”
The win for Timor has brightened their chances of making the semi-finals this year provided they do not lose to Singapore while Malaysia will have to battle Vietnam in their final game of the group.
In the meantime in the second game of the evening, Singapore held out to beat the Philippines 2-1 to ensure that they still have a fighting chance for a place in the next round of the competition.
But it was the Philippines who went ahead first in the evenly contested affair with Jeremiah Borlongan firing in past Singapore keeper Muhammad Adib Azahari.
Singapore then found the equaliser just two minutes later off Joshua Pereira as Haiqal Anugrah then slammed in the winner in the 22nd minutes.
With the win, Singapore have amassed four points and where they will be hoping to beat Timor Leste in two days
In the meantime in the second game of the evening, Singapore held out to beat the Philippines 2-1 to ensure that they still have a fighting chance for a place in the next round of the competition.
But it was the Philippines who went ahead first in the evenly contested affair with Jeremiah Borlongan firing in past Singapore keeper Muhammad Adib Azahari.
Singapore then found the equaliser just two minutes later off Joshua Pereira as Haiqal Anugrah then slammed in the winner in the 22nd minutes.
With the win, Singapore have amassed four points and where they will be hoping to beat Timor Leste in two days to make the cut for the semis while at the same time hoping that either Vietnam or Malaysia will pick up the full points in their final game of the group.
RESULTS
Timor Leste 3 Malaysia 2
Philippines 1 Singapore 2
FIXTURES (18 Sept 2016)
All matches at the Vietnam Youth Football Training Centre
1600: Cambodia vs Myanmar
1600: Laos vs Indonesia
1900: Australia vs Thailand
