KUALA LUMPUR (28 Nov 2011) – Heartbreak continued to pile on Malaysia in their bid to win a place in the 2012 Olympic Games when they gave up a two-goal lead to eventually lose 3-2 to ten man Bahrain in their third match of the third round qualifiers at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
Malaysian Olympic team chief coach Ong Kim Swee was perplexed at how his side could give up the two goal advantage and lose all three points at home in the last five minutes of the game in front of their own vociferous fans.
“I really do not know what to say. We lost everything in the last five minutes,” said a clearly disappointed Kim Swee after the match. “Everything changed when we took out Affize (Faisal) and Nazmi (Faiz Mansor) who were both injured.
“It was obvious that even with Shukor (Jusoh) and Ferris (Danial) at the centre of the park, we could not prevent Bahrain from scoring even though they were down to ten men. But the lads have tried their best and I really can’t complain.”
Malaysia scored through Nazmi (30th minute) and Mahali Jasuli (67th) before Bahrain replied through Saad Saiah Al-Amer (81st) and Isa Ahmed Muthanha (85th and 86th).
The loss was the third in the campaign for Malaysia after identical 2-0 losses to both Japan and Syria earlier in Group C.
