India, who were conceded a goal in a game where the referee’s decisions were mostly wrong, swung the ball once in the first half and kept Malaysia in the penalty area for most of the final quarter, but Kuala Lumpur’s pitch was poor and they conceded a second goal. We lost by -4. Bukit Jalil Stadium will be withdrawn from the Merdeka tournament on Thursday. Malaysia will play Tajikistan on Tuesday to determine the winner.

Mahesh Naorem’s powerful left-footed volley in the 13th minute nullified Dion-Johan Cools’ 7th-minute goal for India, but Arif Hanapi’s penalty in the 20th minute and Mohamed Halim’s goal in the 42nd minute allowed Malaysia to score three goals. They entered halftime with a -1 lead.

India pulled one back with a Sunil Chhetri goal in the 51st minute and it looked like it was 3-3 when Lalianzuala Chhangte’s shot crossed the line before being cleared in the 57th minute.

To the visibly disbelief of the Indian team and bench, the goal was overruled by Thai referee Mongkolcha Pechuri. To make matters worse, Malaysia scored a goal in the 61st minute, although no one chased Corbin Lawrence.

It was the first time since June 5, 2019 that India scored three goals in the first half. It was Igor Stimac’s first game as head coach, against Curacao. On Friday, Stimac was lucky not to get more than four. Hanapi and Halim toyed with Gurpreet Singh Sandhu but failed to score in the 29th minute. 6 minutes ago. Darren Lock should have scored.

Both moves stem from India being suffocated by the Malaysian media. The third goal was similar when Hanapi hustled the ball from Mehtab Singh. Lok, Halim, Hanapi and Muhammad Rashid put pressure on India and the full-backs got too far forward and it was difficult to break free.

It was even harder to keep Malaysia out as Chhangte, Nikhil Poojary, Jhingan and Singh made mistakes against a team ranked 134th in the FIFA rankings, 32 places below India. The defensive weaknesses underlined Stimac’s point that India needs a long training camp to get used to the intensity of international football.

It also showed that attacking full-backs are not always the right choice, especially against teams that play high up the pitch. Akash Mishra was tested by Hanapi from the start and Malaysia took a 4-2 lead when he flicked past the Indian left-back. It was right-back Poojary’s push in the lock that led to the penalty. Pritam Kotal, who can play at right-back and centre-back, may also be worth keeping in the squad after Subhashish Bose, a more traditional left-back, is injured.

Due to Malaysia’s pressure, the passes failed to reach India, and although they got off to a good start with Sahar Abdul Samad swinging from side to side in the second minute, they fell behind. Malaysia took the lead when India failed to clear a corner kick and Cools volleyed home after a lucky deflection.

As well as Cools, who played for Belgium at youth level, Endlok Parafita, skipper Matthew Davis and Lock were naturalized Malaysian players, while Sergio Aguero came on in the second half. This player was also born in Argentina, just like his more famous namesake.

The equalizer had a luxurious feel to it. Naorem’s dream run, which saw him score against Iraq last month, continued with a first-time left-footed volley that denied goalkeeper Ahmad Mohamed a chance. This was the only time India penetrated the right side of Malaysia’s defense through Poojary and Chhangte, the latter’s shot being caught in the path of Naorem by Samad’s audacious flick.

Always a threat with his speed and precision, Naorem’s pass to Samad in the 73rd minute was so good that it was worth more than Mohammed stretching his legs to stop India. Five minutes earlier, Chantae had hit the ball into the uprights. With Malaysia exhausted and trying to figure out how to play, India replaced Chhetri with Liston Colaco, who added speed to their front line.

India did this early in the first half to make it 2-3. From the fast break, Chhante found Chhetri himself and the Indian captain took a shot. 2-3 looked to be 3-3 when Samad took the ball from a Malaysian player and found Chhangte whose shot went over the line before Cools cleared. The world saw it, but the game officials didn’t.