KUALA LUMPUR: Uzbekistan pounced on two individual errors to sink Malaysia 2-0 of their opening Group D match of the 2024 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Asian Cup at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar final night time.
The Harimau Muda squad, underneath the steerage of head coach Juan Torres Garrido, discovered themselves trailing early in the match after defender Muhamad Syahir Bashah fouled Ruslanbek Jiyanov in the field.
Referee Ahmed Faisal Al Ali of Jordan had no hesitation in blowing the whistle and exhibiting Muhamad Syahir the yellow card earlier than Uzbekistan skipper Jasurbek Jaloliddinov calmly slotted house the spot kick in the eleventh minute to place the champions of the 2018 version 1-0 forward.
Uzbekistan, who additionally completed runners-up in the 2022 version and coached by Timur Kapadze, practically doubled their lead at the finish of the first half when Alibek Davronov headed over the bar from shut vary, with Malaysian goalkeeper Muhammad Azim Al Amin Kamaruddin rooted to his spot.
Malaysia, enjoying with two centrebacks usually seen with the senior squad in Muhammad Mukhairi Ajmal and Nooa Laine, ended the first half with out a shot on the right track and having simply 44 per cent of possession.
Garrido made some adjustments after the break however his males nonetheless couldn’t stop Uzbekistan from dominating the recreation and coming near discovering the web.
With 10 minutes to go, Uzbekistan capitalised on one other mistake by Malaysia to double their lead.
This time, Husain Norchaev intercepted a shoddy move from Malaysian substitute Muhammad Abu Khalil and set Ulug’bek Khoshimov as much as rating objective quantity two in the 83rd minute.
The defeat means Malaysia will now must get one thing from their match in opposition to Vietnam at the similar venue on April 20 earlier than they face Kuwait of their closing group match at the Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah on April 23.
Malaysia, who reached the quarter-finals in the 2018 version, are eyeing an analogous achievement on this marketing campaign.
Only the high two groups from every group will advance to the final eight and stand an opportunity to combat for the three computerized spots in the 2024 Paris Olympics whereas the fourth-best crew in Doha must tackle Guinea in a playoff in Paris in May.
