Last-minute Lapse Cost Harimau Muda Dearly - Nafuzi

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 4 (Bernama) -- The Harimau Muda squad’s hopes of securing all three points were dashed by a lapse in the dying minutes, resulting in Malaysia’s 0-1 defeat to Lebanon in the opening match of the 2026 AFC U-23 Asian Cup Qualifiers yesterday, said head coach Nafuzi Zain.

He said his players displayed good football including creating several golden chances, but failed to capitalise on them.

“The players are clearly disappointed (with last night’s defeat), and I feel we should not have lost and could have won that match.  

“The game control shown from the start was good as well. There were many chances but we failed to make use of them to score,” he said in a video shared by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) today.

Yesterday, in the match at Thammasat Stadium, Pathum THani, Thailand, both teams put up a fierce battle in search of an early goal but no breakthrough was made in the first half.

After the restart in the second half, both sides continued to struggle for goals, and just when it seemed the game would end in a draw, Lebanese midfielder Ali El Fadl found the net in the 84th minute.  

As a result, Nafuzi urged his boys to bounce back in their next two matches against Mongolia (Sept 6) and hosts Thailand (Sept 9) in a bid to progress further in the campaign.  

Only the 11 group winners and four best runners-up will qualify for the final round in Saudi Arabia next January.  

Malaysia previously qualified for the AFC U-23 Asian Cup in 2022 (Uzbekistan) and 2024 (Qatar), with their best achievement being a quarter-final appearance in the 2018 edition in China.

-- BERNAMA