Harimau Malaya show stripes to hold better ranked Cape Verde
Substitute striker Paulo Josue scored an equaliser with about 10 minutes remaining to save the honour of the Harimau Malaya squad in front of their own fans after defender Sidny Lopes Cabral had put Cape Verde ahead early in the first half.
In the first clash between the two teams on the competitive stage, coach Cklamovski signalled the importance of local players when he fielded seven homegrown footballers in the starting XI while the latest naturalised player Gabriel Palmero was given the chance to make his debut for Malaysia.
Malaysia, ranked 131st in the world gave an early warning to the visitors when Palmero's shot from outside the penalty area hit the post in the seventh minute, but Cape Verde were first in front through Cabral who cleverly beat Daniel Ting and fired a powerful shot from close range a minute later.
Cape Verde (officially the Republic of Cabo Verde) then continued to dominate the game and launched a wave of attacks through a series of powerful shots that forced the national defence led by captain Matthew Davies and goalkeeper Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed to work extra hard to save the situation.
On resumption, Malaysia had a golden opportunity to equalise but Faisal's powerful shot in the 61st minute was cleared by goalkeeper Josimar Dias before Muhammad Ubaidullah Shamsul Fazili arrived to pounce the ball on the goal line.
Arif Aiman also missed an opportunity to score when his attempt in a one-on-one situation hit Dias' foot in the 69th minute.
However, Harimau Malaya could finally heave a sigh of relief when Josue equalised in the 79th minute after he calmly finished off a pass from Quentin Cheng.
The heroic Josue then had the best chance to score the national team's winning goal, but his close-range shot hit the alert Dias' foot in the 86th minute, thus ensuring the 1-1 result remained until the final whistle.
Malaysia will once again face Cape Verde in a friendly match behind closed doors at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on June 3.
The two friendly matches against Cape Verde are in preparation for Malaysia to face Vietnam in the second Group F match of the 2027 Asian Cup Qualifiers at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on June 10.
Vietnam and Malaysia now share the top two spots in the group with three points respectively after having played a match each.
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