Malaysia's hopes of making it to the finals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Championship in Qatar in January next year were dashed when they lost 0-1 to Japan in their last Group I match at the Shah Alam Stadium here on Tuesday night.
This was the third successive victory for the 'Blue Samurai" who had beaten Macau 7-0 in their opening match on Friday before winning 2-0 against Vietnam 2-0 at the same venue on Sunday.
On Tuesday night's match, Japan who were using their reserves wasted no time going after the Malaysian goal as soon as Australian referee Christopher Beath blew the starting whistle.
Muhammad Farhan Roslan had an opportunity to put Malaysia ahead in the 29th minute but his attempt from outside the box was saved by Japan's second choice keeper Ayumi Niekawa.
Japan's incessant attacks were finally rewarded when Yuya Kubo, who plays for Swiss club BSC Young Boys, nodded home a pass in the 41st minute.
The second half saw the visitors continue with the same leaving the Malaysian Under-22 squad players camped in their own half most of the time. The scoreline stood until the final whistle.
Speaking to reporters after the match, national U-22 squad Head Coach, Razip Ismail said he will leave his fate to the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) after his side failed to clinch a slot in the final round of the
tournament.
"I do not want to comment further but I am leaving my fate to FAM to decide (about my future).But overall I'm quite happy with our players performance," he said.
Japan's coach Teguramori on the other hand, praised his players for showing an improvement besides being able to cope well with the scorching heat in the country.
"I'm also very happy because our players managed to keep a clean sheet but there are some aspects that we need to improve on before to the final round in Qatar," he said.
Bernama
Wed Apr 01 2015
Japan team captain Endo Wataru (middle) was blocked by Malaysian player Kenny Pallraj Davaragi (right) during the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-23 Championship match on Tuesday night. - Bernama pic
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