Malaysia beaten 0-2 by Palestine

The Harimau Malaya squad lost to Palestine 0-2 in an international charity match at Darul Makmur Stadium, here, Tuesday night.

In the first half, both teams were on the offensive and eager to score goals but the Palestinians scuppered their best chance in the 27th minute when Iyad A.S. Gharoud's powerful shot was saved by the hosts' goalkeeper, Mohd Farizal Marlias.

Coach Datuk K. Rajagobal's charges almost equalised in the 30th minute but Mohd Amri Yahyah failed to capitalise on the one-to-one encounter with Palestinian keeper Tawfiq A.Y. Abuhammad.

The Harimau Malaya defence then failed to stop the Palestinians from scoring their first goal in the 39th minute through Khaled J.A. Salem from the penalty box.

Coach Rajagobal's decision to change the keeper much later in the second half also made it worse for the Malaysians when Ashraf N.O. Alfawaghra scored for the visitors in the 90th minute.

Palestine almost added another in extra time with a penalty kick by Husam I.A. Abusalah but the ball was parried by substitute keeper Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamad before the referee blew the final whistle, with Malaysia losing 0-2 to Palestine.

The match was also watched by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) president, Sultan of Pahang Sultan Ahmad Shah, Pahang Football Association president Tengku Abdul Rahman Sultan Ahmad Shah, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek and Palestine ambassador to Malaysia Abdul Elaziz Abu Goush.

Before the match started, Sultan Ahmad Shah also received donations amounting to RM910,000 from various parties for the Lahad Datu Warriors Fund and Palestine Humanitarian Fund and the amount did not include the proceeds from the tickets sale.