Bosnia in Merdeka Cup
Malaysians go down fighting to Bosnia
June 28th, 2001 - The Malaysian Under-23 team bowed out of the Merdeka Tournament with their heads held high despite going down to Bosnia 2-0 in the semifinals at the Shah Alam Stadium tonight.
The Malaysian youngsters have had a fine performance throughout the tournament which included their sensational victory over archrivals Thailand two days ago.
The Malaysians realised that they were up against the favourites in this tournament but still they fought their hearts out, and lost to goals from Jasmin Huric and Almin Kulenovic.
To make matters tougher for the Malaysians, they started without main striker Hairuddin Omar who was sitting out a one-match suspension. Bosnia on the other hand were back at full strength with the return of regulars, Sasa Papac and Velimir Brasnic, from suspension.
Despite facing such a tough team, the young Malaysians played with lots of determination and confidence. But they were unable to get the better of the experienced Bosnian team.
The Malaysians were cautious but the Bosnians took advantage of two lapses and scored twice within a space of less than 10 minutes.
There was a somewhat of a scramble in the 12th minute and Jasmin Huric rushed in to score the first goal for his team. A corner kick in the 19th minute led to Almin Kulenovic nodding the ball home and this surely made life tough for the young Malaysians.
The Malaysians did not let the goal get them down and charged forward in search of the goal that would put them back in the game. They tried hard but were often stopped by the Bosnian defenders around the box.
To make matters worse, striker Akmal Rizal was closely marked but this came as no surprise. The Bosnian coach, Husjina Arapovic-behram, had said yesterday that Akmal was a strong player and could pose a threat.
Still, the Malaysians pressed on but the frustration must have gotten to them, including Akmal, who was booked by referee Huang Jun Jie of China some five minutes from the end.
After the interval, the Malaysians increased the pace and had the better share of the game. They continued to move up to try and seek the goals they so badly wanted but things just did not go their way.
K. Rajan, who netted the winner against Thailand, almost scored another goal from a freekick but his well struck effort was saved by the Bosnian keeper Romeo Mitrovic.
In the last few minutes, Akmal managed to evade three defenders but watched with dismay as his shot went over the bar. They fought to the very end but the goals never came.
MALAYSIA UNDER-23: Kamarulzaman Hassan, S. Jayaprakash, Norhafiz Zamani Misbah, Mohd Shukor Adan, Indra Putra Mahayuddin (Rudie Ramle), Mohd Nizam Jamil, Abd Aziz Ismail, K. Rajan, Subri Sulong (Nor Suhaimi Bahauddin), Akmal Rizal Rakhli, Mohd Nizaruddin Yusop (Mohd Fadzli Shaari).
BOSNIA: Romeo Mitrovic, Almin Kulenovic, Sasa Papac, Jasmin Huric, Mirsad Beslija (Vedran Pelic), Nermin Sabic, Srdan Pecelj, Nedim Halilovic (Enes Mesanovic), Karic Denis, Velimir Brasnic (Emir Granov), Dalibor Silic.
We are in the final, we are going to play Uzbekistan (Uzbekistan beat Bahrain 2-0)
The game will be on Saturday, June 30th.
Good Luck to Bosnia!!!, we should win this!!
Last edited by bosna_11; 06-28-2001 at 05:59 PM.
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