NAYPYITAW (23 Aug 2013) – Malaysia and Singapore battled to a 1-1 draw in a Group B match of the AFF AYA Bank Under-16 Championship this afternoon at the Wunna Theikdi Stadium.
The Malaysians, who had demolished the Philippines two days ago, were a shade off colour as they found it hard going against a determined side from Singapore.
“There were jitters at the start of the match,” said Nazri Nasir, the coach from Singapore. “But the boys managed to settle down to match the Malaysians and I have no complaint.”
With both teams evenly matched, the Malaysians found the back of the net in the 22nd minute when Abang Nur-firman Abang Norazman when he headed in from the far post off a Muhammad Najmuddin Samat’s corner.
But with just three minutes left of the first half, Singapore’s Muhammad Zulqaernen Suzliman capitalised on a defensive error to slot the ball home.
“We should have won this game but there were a handful of decisions which went against us,” said Malaysian coach S. Balachandran. “But at least we picked up the one point which means that we need to win the remainder of our matches.”
Group B Current Standings
