Malaysia vs Singapore to meet in World Cup qualifier

Source

2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, 1st round, 2nd leg

Taiwan 3 Malaysia 2 (Aggregate 4-4, Malaysia win on away goals rule)

TAIPEI - The much-anticipated Causeway clash between Singapore and Malaysia later this month is on.

Malaysia scraped into the second round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers despite going down 3-2 to Taiwan in their first round, second-leg tie here last night, according to the Asian Football Confederation website.

The reigning ASEAN champions advanced courtesy of the away goals rule following last Wednesday's 2-1 victory in Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysians had admitted disappointment at their failure to win by a bigger margin in last week's first round, first leg, but it looked as though the profligacy at home wasn't going to prove too costly when Mohd Aidil Radzak, scorer of Malaysia's second goal at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, took his side's aggregate lead to 3-1 with just eight minutes played at the Taipei Municipal Stadium. His freekick from 35m out sailed into the Taiwan net.

Chang Han pulled a goal back for the hosts in the 31st minute, but Safiq Rahim, who bagged Malaysia's first-leg opener, restored the visitors' two-goal cushion when the Selangor striker made it 2-1 on the night and 4-2 on aggregate with five minutes of the first-half left to play.

But Taiwan again surged back and scored twice from the spot as Chen Po-liang and Xavier Chen converted penalties in the 44th and 75th minutes to set up a nervous final quarter-of-an-hour for Malaysian coach K Rajagobal's side.

But Taiwan could not find the fourth goal that would take them through and the Malaysians advanced by the skin of their teeth, for that eagerly anticipated second round clash with Singapore on July 23 and 28.

Meanwhile, the Philippines thrashed Sri Lanka 4-0 in another World Cup qualifying match at Manila's Rizal Memorial Stadium yesterday.

Emelio Asada Caligdong opened the scoring 19 minutes into the game before Phil Younghusband and Angel Guirado followed up with successive goals to put the game beyond Sir Lanka's reach.

Younghusband completed the triumph with a successful penalty kick.

The win takes the Philippines to the second round of the qualifiers, a first for the ASEAN nation known for its passion for basketball and boxing. Agencies



Other results:

Macau 1 Vietnam 7 (1-13 agg)Myanmar 2 Mongolia 0 (2-1 agg)