Causeway derby in the balance

Source

World Cup qualifiers, first round, 1st leg

Malaysia 2 Chinese Taipei 1

Kuala Lumpur - When referee Mahapab Chaiya blew the final whistle at the Bukit Jalil Stadium last night, the 45,000 Malaysians in attendance erupted in cheers, but out on the field in front of them it was a very different picture.

S Kunalan looked down on the ground, hands on knees, while his team-mate Fadhil Mohamad held his head in his hands - they knew they did not complete the job asked of them.

K Rajagobal's Malaysian side beat Chinese Taipei 2-1 in the first leg of round one of the Fifa 2014 World Cup qualifiers, but conceding that goal in the 76th minute means that the much anticipated cross-Causeway derby between Singapore and Malaysia in the second round (July 23 and 28) is now hanging precariously in the balance. Singapore received a bye into the second round and were drawn to face the winners of this fixture.

Watching from the stands at Bukit Jalil, Singapore boss Radojkok Avramovic was impressed by the visitors' willingness to attack, although he believes the Malaysia-Singapore faceoff is still on the cards.

Speaking to MediaCorp, he said: "Chinese Taipei surprised me by trying to play a passing game, and they could even have scored first ... but I will not be surprised at all if Malaysia beat them in Taipei. This match confirmed what I already knew of Malaysia from the Suzuki Cup. I saw what I expected of them in terms of players and style."

Avramovic believes Malaysia play in a similar fashion as they did last December, but could face a problem with injuries.

Star striker Norshahrul Idlan is still working his way back to fitness and strike-partner Safee Sali was injured last night and is certain to miss Sunday's return leg.

"They have players who are not fully fit and that may be a problem for them, but they are good defensively with other players, especially Kunalan and Baddrol Bakhtiar who can be dangerous.

"But we can beat them, we can beat any team if we play well. It is only a question of how well we can prepare ourselves," said Avramovic.

Looking disappointed, Rajagobal admitted his men have made things difficult for themselves.

He said: "The first match of any tournament is always tough, but we have no excuses ... we started sloppy ... then conceded a very simple goal due to a lack of concentration.

"We just have to get the job done."