What did we learn from the Malaysia – Singapore Airmarine Cup 2019?
March 21, 2019
Malaysia failed to qualify for the finals of the Airmarine Cup 2019 last night.
The home side were defeated 1-0 though Faris Ramli’s 82nd minute goal which broke Malaysia’s offside trap and calmly slotted in the winner for one of Malaysia’s closest rivals.
At the end of the match, it was nonetheless clear that Malaysia never really could do much in the match and here’s three reasons why I think so.
Norshahrul isn’t getting any younger
Norshahrul Idlan Talaha was a hero in the AFF Suzuki Cup 2018 finals, but he wasn’t near such standards against Singapore this time around. The player known best as ‘Mat Yo’ found himself struggling with the pace of the game and at times were caught chasing shadows. Maybe age has finally caught up with the veteran striker and it may be time for the younger generations to step up and fill his shoes. Mat Yo was eventually substituted by Tan Cheng Ho by half time.
Singapore was the better side
Malaysians may disagree with this, citing their resurgence in the second half of the match. However, in the first half of the match, Singapore was in complete control of the game and on numerous times almost scored if it wasn’t for the brilliance of Khairul Fahmi Che Mat, the veteran Malaysian goalkeeper. It was Khairul Fahmi’s brilliance that kept his side in the game in the first half. After the breather, Malaysia looked better, but Singapore was still able to cut in a few dangerous chances, one of which gave them the winning goal.
Long journey ahead for Malaysia
Malaysia had wanted the Airmarine Cup 2019 to kick off their ambition to build one of the best national teams in Asia. To achieve this, winning the Airmarine Cup 2019 was important to improve the FIFA World Ranking of the team which now stands at 167th. Their defeat to Singapore, which is the closest ranked team in the Airmarine Cup 2019 not only dented the hope of improving their rankings, but also makes it rather difficult for the Malaysians to improve their FIFA World Rankings as their next opponent would be Afghanistan which is ranked at 147th. This means Malaysia still has a long way to go to achieve their goals.
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This article is brought to us by our Sports Writers Club resident columnist – Cyril Dason.
