A BEATNG FOR MALAYSIA AND VIETNAM

The Malaysians were overwhelmed 5-0 by United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the Stadium KLFA in Kuala Lumpur while Asean champions Vietnam were outdone 6-1 by China at the Zhengjiang Yellow Dragon Sports Centre in Hangzhou.

For Malaysia, it was their first game of the qualifiers in Group C while for Vietnam, it was their second match in Group D following their earlier win over Lebanon.

Malaysian head coach B. Sathianathan was obviously not pleased with the heavy defeat when he launched a scathing attack on the standard of the M-League as a contributing factor to the loss.

“I have no problem with the players’ commitment but fitness is an issue. And when only three players passed the fitness test we conducted before the match against the UAE, what does it say about the standard of the M-League?” he quipped at the post match press conference.

Vietnam on the other hand, scored their only goal in the game off Nguyen Vu Phong in the ninth minute.

Henrique Calisto, the head coach for Vietnam conceded that his side were ultimately well beaten by a superior outfit.

“Our players were unable to cope with our opponents particularly well in one-on-one situations,” he said.

“After all, China are stronger than us.”