ISKANDAR PUTERI, March 25 (Bernama) -- The national football team’s revolution began in a promising fashion when the Harimau Malaya defeated Nepal 2-0 in their opening Group F match of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium here tonight.
Heritage player Hector Hevel introduced himself to local fans in style when he put Malaysia 1-0 up in the first half before defender Corbin Ong doubled their lead after the break.
Although Malaysia, under the guidance of new head coach Peter Cklamovski, dominated the game and controlled the tempo of the match with slick passes and structured moves, they still found it hard to breach Nepal’s defence, especially in the first half.
Despite controlling the midfield, Cklamovski’s men seemed to lack understanding upfront, resulting in them missing several chances.
Malaysia, who started aggressively, nearly shot ahead in the eighth minute but Endrik Dos Santos failed to get a clean header off Arif Aiman Mohd Hanapi’s pin-point cross from the right.
Arif Aiman then had a great chance to put Harimau Malaya ahead but, this time, his close-range effort sailed just wide of the left post in the 25th minute.
Malaysia finally broke the deadlock when Hevel, the Dutch-born midfielder who only joined up with the national team last week, let fly a screamer from outside the box that ended up in the back of the net after taking a wicked deflection off a Nepali defender in the 29th minute.
Naturalised striker Romel Morales could have doubled Malaysia’s advantage in the 60th minute but his header hit the post.
Malaysia, however, were not to be denied a second goal when Corbin, left unmarked at the far post, tapped home a neat cross from the left from Arif Aiman in the 71st minute.
Apart from the winning start, another positive to take from the game tonight was the sight of nippy winger Mohamad Faisal Abdul Halim making his first appearance in the Harimau Malaya jersey since the acid attack last May as he replaced skipper Dion Cools with less than 20 minutes to go.
Meanwhile, hosts Vietnam began their campaign in devastating style by trouncing Laos 5-0 at the Binh Duong Stadium to top the group on goal difference, with Malaysia in second spot.
Malaysia’s next outing will see them welcoming Vietnam on June 10 before travelling to Laos on Oct 9.
-- BERNAMA
