KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 — The national Under 23 (U-23) football squad’s effort to end their 2022 U-23 Asian Cup campaign on a high note was thwarted by Vietnam as they crashed to a 0-2 loss in their final Group C match in Tashkent, Uzbekistan today.

Malaysia struggled to deal with Vietnam’s repeated attacks, which began the minute the whistle blew at the start of their match at Lokomotiv Stadium, but managed to hold out till Vietnam’s striker Nham Manh Dung headed in a cross by Nguyen Thanh Nhan to score the first goal in the 28th minute.

Brad Maloney’s boys still mounted the occasional foray up the field to breach Vietnam’s tight defence but a shot from outside the penalty box by Mohd Aiman Afif Md Afizul two minutes after ballooned above Vietnam’s goal instead.

Things then got worse for Malaysia as Muhammad Hairiey Hakim Mamat received a red card for a handball when he tried to block Dung Quang Nho, which also gifted Vietnam with a penalty in injury time of the first half.

Although the initial kick taken by team captain Bui Hoang Viet Anh was blocked by national goalkeeper Firdaus Irman, he was on target a split second later when he tapped the rebound in, putting Vietnam comfortably ahead with a two goal margin as the teams headed to the dressing rooms for half time break.

The Malaysian team came out in the second half with renewed vigour even though they were down by a man, and the Vietnamese were unable to extend their lead, though they came close with a shot by Quang Nho that strayed to the left of Malaysia’s goal in the 69th minute.

The national team’s best shot at scoring came in the 76th minute, but the weak header by defender Quentin Cheng missed. The match ended at 2-0 in favour of Vietnam, who ended the group stage in second place with five points behind Group C winners and fellow quarter-finalists South Korea with seven points, after they eked out a narrow 1-0 win against Thailand.

Thailand’s loss at Pakhtakor Stadium today against South Korea meant that they finished third in Group C with four points, while Malaysia’s three consecutive defeats, beginning with a 1-4 thrashing by South Korea on June 2, a 0-3 loss to Thailand last Sunday and today’s 0-2 result against Vietnam, condemned them to the bottom of Group C without a single point. — Bernama