AFC Asian Cup
Having taken the lead just before half-time, World No 130 Malaysia found themselves pegged back by Syria with the Southeast Asian side then salvaging a share of the spoils through Paulo Josue’s effort 12 minutes from time at Al Arabi Sports Club.
“Good start and we competed against a team ranked 91,” said Kim. “Very good performance in the first half. We changed a lot (of players) in the second half because we wanted to give everyone minutes.
“I'm happy that we came back to finish 2-2 and even had chances to win late on so the players should gain confidence and match fitness ahead of the Jordan game. We will assess everything to find the best 11 for the first game.”
Johor Darul Ta’zim star Arif Aiman put Malaysia ahead six minutes before half-time but Syria roared back with two goals in four minutes through Pablo Sabbag (70th) and Ibrahim Hesar (74th).
Despite having made wholesale changes in the second half, Malaysia managed to peg Syria back late on with Josue scoring with a crackling strike in the 78th minute.
Returning to the AFC Asian Cup stage after 16 years, Malaysia will kick-off their Group E campaign against Jordan on January 16 with Bahrain (January 20) and Korea Republic (January 25) to follow.
Hector Cuper’s Syria are in Group B and will take on Uzbekistan in their opening match on January 14. They play Australia four days later and India on January 23.
Photo: Football Association of Malaysia
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