Malaysia failed to hand Datuk Ong Kim Swee his first win as head coach of the national team after a goalless draw against Macau at the Hang Jebat Stadium in Malacca earlier tonight.
The Malacca-born coach made six changes from his side’s 2-0 defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia on Friday by sticking with the likes of Fadhli Shas, Baddrol Bakhtiar and Amri Yahya. Macau head coach Tan Lao San has been receiving the stick lately by the Macau Football Association after losing the past four matches — scoring twice and conceding ten goals.
There were no signs of life during the first ten minutes of the international friendly as the home side was not able to break Macau’s defensive organization in the final half of the field, before they offered a few glimpses of attacks from Matthew Davies and Norshahrul Talaha.
Ong Kim Swee was required to make a change in the early stages of the game, like against Saudi Arabia, as he brought on Terengganu’s Yong Kuong Yong for an injured Nazirul Naim.
Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, who helped his country to win the AFF Suzuki Cup in 2010, took the first shot on target of the game but his effort was saved by Ho Man Fai on the 25th minute.
Baddrol Bakhtiar then unleashed a 40-yard pass to Azrif Nasrulhaq, who laid it off for his captain of the night, Amri Yahya, but the Johor Darul Ta’azim (JDT) man’s effort went wide. The former Selangor player then set up Nazirul Naim but his shot was brilliantly saved by Ho Man Fai, who pushed it to the far post on the 38th minute of the match.
The second half kicked off and Malaysia started where they left off in the first half — by piling the pressure on Tam Lao San’s men. Amri Yahya almost opened the scoring against the 195th-ranked team in the world but his effort from outside the book just curled inches wide.
Malaysia dominated the fixture from the get go, but struggled to get a goal out of it.
Selangor captain Shahrom Kalam could have broken the deadlock on 67th minute after a pin-point cross from Amri Yahya, but his header just flew a little wide off target. His Selangor counterpart Hafiz Kamal saw his free-kick saved by Ho Man Fai ten minutes from time.
Ho Man Fai was brought into action again after he stopped Amri Yahya’s header from hitting the back of the net from just five yards out after a long-range free-kick by Hafiz Kamal, before Wan Zack Haikal’s shot just hit the side netting on the 85th minute of the tie.
Hafiz Kamal’s free-kick hit the woodwork before the referee blew the final whistle.
The attendance at the Hang Jebat Stadium tonight was roughly more than 15,000 fans.
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