MALAYSIA 2 MAN UNITED 3

Manchester United began their Asian Tour with a match against Malaysia this evening. Manchester United was supposed to stroll along and trampled the young Malaysian team selected by Coach Rajagopal. 

True the superstars of Man United had it easy controlling the game in the first 20 minutes but the young Malaysians were not overawed. True Wayne Rooney scored an easy goal after just 8 minutes and Nani scored again on the 27th minute for MU to take an easy lead.  

But the Malaysian lacking in height and skills fought hard within their limitation. Adopting 4-2-3-1 formation, Malaysia adjusted well in midfield, at times moving smoothly into the Man United territory.

With seconds ticking away for the half time whistle, Amri Yahyah on seeing Van Der Sar off the line, sent a looping shot into the left side of the goal. The near full capacity crowd of 85,000 at Bukit Jalil Stadium went wild.

Oh yes, what a beautiful goal it was, a real gem that could do proud even in EPL. Mind you, Amri was one of the leanest players in the field. 

It was indeed a proud moment for Malaysian football.

Second half started with Ben Foster coming in as Man United's keeper in place of Van Der Sar. Was he nervous or was it a momentary lapse of concentration?

I like to believe that our player of the night, Amri, put a thinking hat on his head. A back pass on the 51st minute saw Foster scrambling back with Amri Yahyah coming in from the blind sight. Amri, who was slightly quicker managed to squeeze the ball into the net for the second Malaysian goal. 

The game was evenly fought in the middle of the field.The young Malaysian players growing in confidence passed the ball around with ease, though at times a bit too casual.

The score stood at 2-2 until Sir Alex Ferguson introduced Giggs and Owen, two most experienced players to replace tired legs. Both made instant impact.

Minute 85 saw Michael Owen, in his first game for United, tapping the ball neatly into the left corner tilting the score in MU's favour, salvaging their pride.

" Quality might be lacking but spirit displayed today by the Malaysians was not seen for a long long time" Shebby Singh summing up very well at the end of the 90+3 minutes game.

Our boys might have lost the game but they fought at times like real tigers against the giants of England and Europe.

Well done Amri for the two goals and a beautiful display. Well done players of both teams for an entertaining match.

Well done Coach Rajagopal and...

 WELL DONE MALAYSIA!

(pix from www.manutd.com)