KUALA LUMPUR: The “noise” at the Thien Truong Stadium in Nam Dinh, Vietnam proved overwhelming for Peter Cklamovski and his side as the Malaysian outfit bade farewell to their AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifying campaign.
Playing in front of a capacity crowd, the home team won 3-1, securing their goals through Do Duy Manh in the 6th minute and naturalised player Nguyen Xuan Son, who struck in the 51st and 59th minutes. Malaysia’s solitary goal came via Endrick Dos Santos in the 76th minute after his side was awarded a penalty.
The victory for Kim Sang-sik’s Vietnam side avenges an earlier defeat to a different Harimau Malaya squad that featured seven footballers who was later sanctioned by Fifa.
Earlier wins secured by Malaysia against Vietnam (4-0) and Nepal (2-0) were overturned, with the Malaysian side handed 3-0 defeats after Fifa revealed last September that several players did not meet the requirements to represent Malaysia.
The decision was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, forcing the Asian Football Confederation to impose the penalty on Cklamovski’s men.
For Malaysia, the defeat marks a somber conclusion to a journey defined more by legal battles and questions regarding the awarding of citizenship by Putrajaya than by footballing prowess.
The saga, which involved falsified documents regarding Malaysian ancestry, resulted in the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) being fined RM1.9 million.
The seven players banned from competing for 12 months are Gabriel Felipe Arrocha, Facundo Tomas Garces, Rodrigo Julian Holgado, Imanol Javier Machuca, Joao Vitor Brandao Figueiredo, Jon Irazabal Iraurgui, and Hector Alejandro Hevel Serrano.
Main image: Vietnam Football Federation
