KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia hammered Cambodia 4-0 in a Tier 1 international match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil tonight.
This was despite the fact many key players were missing in the Harimau Malaya squad coached by Kim Pan Gon.
The comfortable victory in front of 8,332 fans saw the national team featuring many new faces maintain their excellent record against the ‘Angkor Warriors’ squad, winning all matches dating back to 1970.
The team struggled to find consistency at the beginning of the game, and the light rain and the slippery field surface made it difficult to play short passes which affected the team’s pace.
This, however, did not prevent the national team from scoring the opening goal in the 11th minute when team captain Mohamad Faisal Abdul Halim lobbed the ball past goalkeeper Hul Kimhuy.
After striker Darren Lok and defender Muhammad Azam Azmi Murad missed golden chances to double the lead, naturalised player Lee Tuck put Malaysia 2-0 up through a counter-attack move in the 38th minute.
It was Tuck’s first goal on his national team debut.
Cambodia, coached by Ryu Hirose, then tried to get back into the game with some dangerous attacking play, but Orn Chanpolin’s shot missed the target before Mohamad Faisal scored his second personal goal in the extra time of the first half to put Malaysia ahead 3-0.
Pan Gon made several changes to the attacking line-up in the second half, bringing on Muhammad Safawi Rasid, Mohd Nor Hakim Hassan and another naturalised player, Sergio Aguero.
The substitutes had an impact on the field, but it did not translate into more goals until near full time, when England-born midfielder Stuart Wilkin scored his first goal on his debut for the Harimau Malaya in the 86th minute.
Apart from Tuck and Wilkin, other players who made their debuts today were goalkeeper Kalamullah Al-Hafiz Mat Rowi, Malaysian-Australian David Rowley, Nur Shamie Iszuan Amin and Muhammad Aliff Izwan Yuslan.
The national team will next face the Maldives in another Tier 1 international match at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium, Cheras on Wednesday (Dec 14) before kicking off their 2022 ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Cup campaign against Myanmar in Yangon in the opening Group B action on Dec 21.
Malaysia then face Laos here on Dec 24, before playing Vietnam in Hanoi (Dec 27) and hosting Singapore here in the final group match on Jan 3, 2023.-Bernama