Football history was written at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo as Malaysia celebrated a 4-1 win over Sri Lanka in an A international friendly on Friday.
Both teams went into the match with a low FIFA ranking with Malaysia at 171 against Sri Lanka’s 199.
It was the first time Malaysia fielded a naturalized player – Pahang’s Mohamadou Sumareh who responded with a brace to give the Malaysian attack the much-needed bite which has been lacking in recent times.
The Gambian-born Sumareh scored in the 85th minute and added another in injury time as Tan Cheng Hoe’s side celebrated the much needed morale-boosting win to kickstart their AFF Suzuki Cup preparations.
Malaysia fell behind after 29 minutes when Asela Madushan found the net to give Sri Lanka a 1-0 lead at halftime.
It was a good 65 minutes before Malaysia found their scoring touch and it was veteran Norshahrul Idlan Talaha who showed the way. The Terengganu-born Pahang striker was at the right place at the right time to hit past Sri Lanka goalkeeper Sujan Perera.
That was what Malaysia needed to get the spark up front. It was 2-1 for Malaysia on 77 minutes when an Adam Nor Azlin header off a Syzwan Andek corner beat Sujan all the way.
Sumareh then took over the show with a brace for a comfortable win. – BY RIZAL ABDULLAH
