June 08, 2005 23:29 PM
Malaysia Lose Again To SingaporePENANG, June 8 (Bernama) -- Malaysia failed to avenge their recent defeat to Singapore when they lost 2-1 to their southern neighbours for a second time in four days in a friendly football match at the City Stadium here Wednesday night.
The national team, under the guidance of Hungarian coach Bertalan Bicskei, failed to play well from the opening whistle as they gave room for Singapore to tame them again.
The weakness in defence could not be rectified as Singapore had no difficulty to break through and score the opening goal in the 18th minute.
Singapore striker Noh Alam Shah, who scored both goals in the republic's 2-0 victory in Singapore last Saturday, took the chance well to penalise a mistake by Malaysian goalkeeper Azizon Kadir, who played in place of first-choice Syamsuri Mustafa, who was injured.
Malaysia then had the chance to level the score when they were awarded a penalty in the 24th minute after Singapore defender Baihakki Khaizan brought down striker Nizaruddin Yusoff in the box.
Nizaruddin, who stepped up to take the penalty himself, failed to beat Singapore goalkeeper Lionel Lewis but midfielder Arsyah Ayob scored his first international goal when he slotted in the rebound.
Singapore dominated the proceedings in the second half and got their winning goal in the 66th minute through defender Daniel Bennett off a stunning indirect freekick from outside the penalty box.
The match was marred in the closing minutes when Bicskei lost his cool after seeing his charge Zainuddin Ariffin allegedly bullied by Singapore defender Razaleigh Khalik.
He ran into the field and pulled Razaleigh to the sideline.
However, referee Jimmy Napitupulu of Indonesia acted swiftly to calm the situation and ordered Bicskei to leave the pitch after giving the Hungarian a warning.
Met by reporters after the match, Bicskei said Malaysia had no luck against Singapore which adopted a very aggressive and robust approach.
"Singapore had all the luck to score goals...Malaysia had about seven chances to score but we were just unlucky although I think everyone wanted to give the best for Malaysia," he said.
Singapore skipper Aide Iskandar Sahak said overall the Singapore team played well but he praised the Malaysian team for their improved showing.
"We have done our best and we believe Malaysia did, too," he said.
Teams:
MALAYSIA: Azizon Kadir, Kaironnisam Sahabudin Hussain, Wan Rohaimi Wan Ismail, Ronny Harun (Rezal Zambery Yahya), Lim Chan Yew, Idris Karim, Arsyah Ayob, Tengku Hazman Raja Hassan, Nizaruddin Yusoff (Efendi Malek), Hairuddin Omar, Zainuddin Ariffin (Rudie Ramli).
SINGAPORE: Lionel Lewis, S. Subramani (Razif Mahamud), Daniel Bennett, Baihakki Khaizan, Aide Iskandar Sahak, Hasrin Jailani (Tengku Mushadad), Aidil Sharin Sahak, Ishak Zainol, Indra Sahdan Daud, Noh Alam Shah (Razaleigh Khalik), Itimi Dickson (Goh Tat Chuan).
Referee: Jimmy Napitupulu (Indonesia).
-- BERNAMA
(source:
Bernama Online)