Just not Yemen’s day as 10-man Harimau squeak through

Now now, hold your horses. Let us first evaluate the performance of our national squad before blindly diving in with plaudits for those concerned, namely coach Ong Kim Swee and his boys, after the Asian Cup qualifier against Yemen on Wednesday.

An early penalty for Yemen could have set a very different tone to this match if it had been converted.

The penalty was gifted to them, thanks to the Malaysian centreback pairing of Amiridzwan Taj and Aidil Zafuan getting split like the Red Sea, leaving the referee no choice but to give Taj his marching orders for hauling back a Yemeni striker from a clear goal-scoring opportunity.

Yemen's inability to finish in front of goal cost them dearly, as Khairul Fahmi gratefully collected the back pass-cum-penalty.

If Yemen had converted that chance, going one-nil up and completely dominating the first 10 minutes, the final result could have been embarrassing.

We have far more to thank Khairul Fahmi in goal than the defence, which despite being brought down to 10 men, were nonetheless caught out of position far too often as a unit.

Yemen pounded the Malaysian box, hitting the woodwork multiple times and forcing Khairul Fahmi into a few brilliant stops (a double save in the first half being the biggest highlight).

The Yemeni goalkeeper gifted Malaysia the lead, inexplicably dropping a straightforward free kick and presenting the tireless Amri Yahyah a simple header to nod Malaysia ahead.

Yemen found their equaliser after further neat build-up play – Aidil Zafuan backing off too far from his man and Mahali Jasuli getting wrong-footed – and Ala'a Al Sasi fired home with aplomb.

A whipped in free kick was met by Fakri's Shaaraknee, and the rest is history – Malaysia held on for a victory which was ultimately futile as China sealed qualification as the best third placed team, despite a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Iraq.

On paper, a 2-1 win away from home (difficult to say "hostile conditions" as there was hardly a crowd at the Tahnoun Bin Mohamed stadium) despite playing with 10 men for 80 minutes seems brilliant.

However, some questions have to be asked of national interim coach Ong.

When Amiridzwan Taj was sent off, it was baffling to see central midfielder Safiq Rahim being hauled off.

Fair enough that central defender Fadhli Shas had to be brought on but to then ask Bobby Gonzalez, a striker to drop back into central midfield, a position alien to him, was a mistake.

It was a mistake that was acknowledged in the 42nd minute when Ahmad Fakhri Shaarani came on to replace the hapless Gonzalez.

Fakhri is certainly more used to mucking out in midfield, as has been previously seen at his club team Kelantan.

This made us more disciplined and the two banks of four began to withstand the pressure enough to start venturing out a little more.

All this at the expense of a substitute that would have come in handy as the legs tired late in the game. Quite probably, a more experienced coach would have anticipated and reacted for the benefit of his team.

So, the Football Association of Malaysia could do well to seek expert advice in solving the vacant position, besides asking the obvious questions, such as, "what do we really want to achieve?"

If the AFF Championship at year-end is the objective, then wait for the current Malaysian Super League season to end.

We then appoint the most successful coach of the season to helm the team for a one-off competition.

Such competitions do not require a large amount of investment in the coaching staff, and could provide valuable experience to local coaches.

However, if FAM decide that they would like to be competing among the giants of Asian football, they will then need to find a manager whose reputation and experience will demand respect in this country.

A manager whose mere presence galvanises players to step up their performances, not to mention adding a new dimension to the usually "defend in numbers and nick it off a long range strike or set piece" national footballing identity that seems to have stuck over the years. – March 8, 2014.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.