Heritage-powered Harimau rip apart Vietnam
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia showed they meant business in their Asian Cup campaign by thrashing Vietnam 4-0 in a Group F qualifer at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Friday
No one was expecting this kind of score, not when Malaysia had not beaten Vietnam in the last 11 years.
But world No 109 Vietnam, the so-called powerhouses of Southeast Asia, were ripped apart by world No 132 Malaysia.
The Red Star Warriors were sunk by goals from Joao Figueiredo (49th minute), Rodrigo Holgado (59th), La'vere Corbin Ong (67th) and Dion Cools (88th)
Malaysia, who beat Nepal 2-0 in their opening match, now top Group F with two wins.
The new-look Harimau Malaya, coached by Peter Cklamovski, saw new heritage players - Figueiredo, Holgado, Jon Irazabal and Facundo Garces earning their first cap for Malaysia, while Imanol Machuca was on the bench.
Malaysia listed nine heritage players for the match, including Dion Cools, Corbin Ong, Matthew Davies, Hector Hevel and Nooa Laine.
The two 'local boys' in the squad were Arif Aiman Hanapi and goalkeeper Ahmad Syihan Hazmi.
Cklamovski's men started the match brightly but Vietnam managed to play a composed game to frustrate the hosts in front of 61,512 supporters.
The tide changed for Malaysia in the 38th minute after Vietnam lost their influential defender Nguyen Thanh Chung due to an injury and they started to lose their composure.
The floodgates finally broke in the second half as nervy Vietnam could not stem Malaysia's pressure. The Brazil-born Figuerido broke the deadlock from a deflected effort in the 59th minute and it brought confidence to the Malaysia team.
Nippy midfielder Arif Aiman provided the assist for Malaysia's second goal for Holgado in the 59th minute and for the third goal by Corbin in the 67th minute.
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