The Malaysia Experiment - Penalty Drama
Whoever makes the fewest mistakes wins." - Johan Cruyff
The second round kicks off with a bang! We're the last to play our tie and I've been savoring each footballing moment. I went and watch the match between Philippines (92nd) and Japan (61st), and it served up a thriller! 3-3 in regulation time to send it to overtime where Japanese outlasted our neighbors. The upset in the second round has been lowly Turkmenistan (135th) beating Saudi Arabia (78th). Iran (58th) continues their march despite having two players unavailable for them after the red cards in the previous match.
It was a Sunday night as we head towards Sheikh Khalifa International Stadium for our match against Hong Kong (China PR) (119th). I would say it's a pretty small stadium, with a capacity of 16,000 only, but still bigger than the one (Al-Dhafar Stadium) where I watched Philippines vs Japan.
I've got a pretty settled starting eleven as I welcome back my regulars after giving them a break in our last match against Thailand (134th). Muhd Syawan Ismawi (LB) is also back from injury (a bruised head in our opener against Iran). Hong Kong (China PR) is playing their familiar 4-4-2 formation. I still recall them inflicting my first loss in managing Harimau Malaya, 18 months ago. Much has changed since that fateful June evening in Tseung Kwan O. I still see many familiar names on their team sheet but we have quite a revamp with Saddam El-Hafedz Shahri (GK), Abhishek Pannirselvam (DC), Muhd Fazly Mazlan (DC), and our current team captain Matthew Davies (DR) being the only survivors. Tonight's the chance to make things right!
We actually started the game on top with Muhaimin Jamaludin missing a point-blank header after some good work from Luqman Hussain on the left. It wasn't too long before they folded under pressure and Jamaludin made amends for his earlier miss. He fired a shot into the right bottom corner after the ball landed in front of his feet from a tackle by Yau Chun Kuk (ML).
Yau Chun Kuk then made up for his error with a long ball that met Poon Ka Ming (ST) up front. He controlled it with a good first touch and there was still time for our defense and goalkeeper to close in on him. Instead, Shahri was just walking towards him. He made no attempt to dive, not even a tackle. I was furious to say none the least! He's definitely going to feel my fury during halftime.
It was halftime and I was trying my best to refrain myself from blowing up. This was supposed to be a match that we are supposed to be in control. Instead, they had more possession than us. I was really fuming deep down. I was planning to take off my wingers as well. I've decided to give them another 15 minutes to prove their worth.
On the hour mark, I decided to take the wingers (Luqman and Jinxiang) off as they weren't making an impact in the match. I switched my formation to a 4-1-2-1-2, also known as the diamond formation. I brought on Hafiz Azman (AMC) and Haji Mohd Yusop (ST). I also subbed Armuhum Gurusamy Govandar for Ibrahim Ismail, a like for like swap in the center of midfield. The substitutes proved to be a game changer as Mohd Yusop crossed in for Gurusamy Govandar to tap in 2 minutes from time!
The fourth official then showed 4 minutes to be played in injury time. Disaster struck in the 3rd minute! Our defense was caught ball-watching as Chan Ho Yin, an 85th-minute substitute, angled a 45-yard pass out left to Cheung Tsz Wai. He sent a cross in and Chung Wai Keung, another last substitute in the 79th minute, was on hand to tap it in. Extra time! My defensive midfielder, Gonzalo Gnanalingam is pretty exhausted. :/
Extra time has always been 30 minutes of the most boring football ever. No team would want to over commit so that they would be vulnerable to the counter-attack. After enduring half an hour of non-commital play from both sides, penalties beckon. I was surprised to see that Mazlan actually has the highest penalty rating. We had a coin toss and Hong Kong (China PR) won, so naturally, they picked their end where their support was in full force. We decided to go first to lessen the pressure of matching up.
Mazlan begins his run up and kicks it into the top left corner!
Fan Chun Hung hits it in the center as Shahri guessed wrongly and dived to his left.
Jamaludin steps up and shoots the ball into the bottom left corner. Man Fung guessed correctly but there was too much pace on the shot.
Yiu King Ming tried to be fancy as he switches his starting point. It proves to be his own downfall as he shot a lame effort down the middle. SAVED!
Mohd Yusop keep up the pressure as he scores it down the center.
Yuen Sai Kit scores an identical goal as Mohd Yusop.
Next up was Ismawi and he blasted a powerful shot to the top left corner of the goal. Man Fung stood no chance!
If ever there was a time to score, it was this. Fong Ying Lun shoots to the right as Shahri guessed wrong. They were still in it. The onus was back on us.
"Azman! Azman!" You could hear faint chants from the other end of the stadium. He will put this to bed if he keeps his nerve and scores. Top left corner again! Harimau Malaya is through to the quarter-final! ROAR!
Boy, I'm so glad we survived the penalty shootout. Personally, I feel that we should have finished off our business in regulation time, but I can't complain.
We'll be playing the host next! And we'll be playing last again. At least I can take comfort that we'll be having a full week's worth of rest. It's not till next Saturday night before we take to the pitch again.
from where it all started, right up to now.
The Malaysia Experiment - Welcome to Malaysia!
The Malaysia Experiment - Getting to Know the Players
The Malaysia Experiment - Why Wan?
The Malaysia Experiment - My Managerial Debut
The Malaysia Experiment - The First Step
The Malaysia Experiment - First Cut Is The Deepest
The Malaysia Experiment - David vs Goliath
The Malaysia Experiment - A New Malaysia?
The Malaysia Experiment - Here Comes The Doubters
The Malaysia Experiment - Qualification Wrapped Up?
The Malaysia Experiment - See You In United Arab Emirates in 2019!
The Malaysia Experiment - World Cup 2018
The Malaysia Experiment - The U23s are Gold!
The Malaysia Experiment - The Mundane Friendlies
The Malaysia Experiment - AFF Championship Kicks Off!
The Malaysia Experiment - Top of the Table Clash!
The Malaysia Experiment - AFF Championship Group Stages
The Malaysia Experiment - Melayu Derby
The Malaysia Experiment - David vs Goliath
The Malaysia Experiment - Asian Nations Cup | Group F
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