KUALA LUMPUR, SEPT 9 – The national football team brought joy when they won the Merdeka Festival 2024 by recording a 1-0 victory over Lebanon in the final match at the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil here, yesterday night.
The winning goal of the Harimau Malaya squad managed by Pau Marti Vicente was contributed by naturalized striker Romel Morales when the game entered the third quarter of the first half.
The victory over the team ranked 116th in the world saw Malaysia (ranked 134th) win the title of the oldest football competition in Asia for the 13th time since it was introduced on 31 August 1957 with the last time winning it in 2013.
Earlier, Vicente made six changes in the main eleven of the squad that met the Philippines last Wednesday, among them Endrick Dos Santos and Muhammad Safawi Rasid in the middle; Muhammad Syafiq Ahmad (forward) and defender La’vere Corbin Ong.
Vicente’s game managed to excite around 10,000 fans with a bold, fast and steady style of play before Safawi tested the Lebanese goal with a free kick that goalkeeper Mehdi Khalil saved in the seventh minute.
After about 30 minutes of dominating the match, Malaysia managed to break the goal deadlock after Morales finished off Dos Santos’ clever pass in the penalty box which Mehdi failed to save neatly in the 33rd minute thus leading 1-0 in the first half.
Miodrag Radulovic’s Lebanon almost conceded a second time, but Mehdi did brilliantly to deflect a close-range attempt by substitute winger Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi who dribbled past the opposing defender before unleashing a left-footed shot in the 53rd minute.
The 32-year-old goalkeeper continued to be the national team’s second goal barrier after cleverly closing the space to save substitute Muhammad Akhyar Abdul Rashid’s weak kick from close range in the 57th minute.
Lebanon, which occasionally launched an attack, saw its striker Karim Darwich miss an opportunity to equalize after his solid header directly at the national goalkeeper Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed in the 67th minute.
With about 10 minutes left in the game, Lebanon had to play with 10 players after defender Khalil Khamis was ordered off the field following a second yellow card for fouling Muhammad Akhyar in the 78th minute.
The score remained 1-0 in Malaysia’s favor until the final whistle, witnessing this being Malaysia’s first victory over Lebanon after losing the last two meetings in the 2019 Asian Cup qualifying round group competition.
Even sweeter, this is the first cup for Vicente after only twice guiding the national team since being appointed to replace Kim Pan Gon who resigned suddenly last July. – Named
