90+2 minute goal brings U.23 Thailand to Asian Finals, 'Malaysia eliminated because of... naturalization'

On the evening of September 9, the emotional 2-1 victory over U.23 Malaysia helped U.23 Thailand win a ticket to the 2026 AFC U.23 Championship. Meanwhile, U.23 Malaysia was eliminated and continued to receive criticism from the domestic media.

With U.23 Lebanon defeating U.23 Mongolia 3-0 in the early match, U.23 Thailand has been pushed down to 2nd place in Group F. If they defeat U.23 Malaysia, U.23 Thailand will reclaim the top spot, thereby winning a direct ticket. On the contrary, if they draw or lose to U.23 Malaysia, U.23 Thailand will officially be absent from the 2026 AFC U23 Championship.

After about 90 minutes of delay due to heavy rain, the match between U.23 Thailand and U.23 Malaysia has just started. This is also the second consecutive match that U.23 Thailand had to postpone due to weather reasons. Previously, when U.23 Thailand drew 2-2 with U.23 Lebanon on September 6, the match at Thammasat Stadium was postponed for 30 minutes.

Heavy rain continued to appear at Thammasat Stadium, causing the match of U.23 Thailand to be postponed for 90 minutes.

PHOTO: SCREENSHOT

Although the rain had stopped, the water still remaining on the field greatly affected the play of both teams in the first half. U.23 Thailand was the team that took the initiative, controlling the ball nearly 60%. After many attempts to attack, in the 34th minute, the home team of Group F also found the opening goal after a very strong kick by Kakana. After this goal, U.23 Thailand continued to create many dangerous attacking situations but all of their shots were inaccurate, unable to score more goals.

On the opposite side, U.23 Malaysia mainly used high balls to approach the U.23 Thailand goal. Coach Nafuzi Zain's students only had 2 shots in this half but still found the equalizer 1-1 in the 40th minute. The player who brought joy to U.23 Malaysia was Hadi Aysar with a beautiful shot, not giving the U.23 Thailand goalkeeper any chance to block.

U.23 Thailand had a difficult match against U.23 Malaysia

PHOTO: SCREENSHOT

In the second half, U.23 Thailand completely controlled the game. Coach Damrong Ongtrakul's students used many attacking situations in the middle, causing the U.23 Malaysia goal to be unstable. U.23 Thailand shot 16 times in the second half, 8 times more than what U.23 Malaysia did. In the 90+2 minute, the fans at Thammasat Stadium burst into tears when Kakana shot the ball with class, sealing a 2-1 victory for U.23 Thailand.

Winning 3 points in the match against U.23 Malaysia, U.23 Thailand has 7 points after 3 matches, "snatching" back the top spot in Group F from U.23 Lebanon thanks to a better goal difference (+7 compared to +4). At the same time, U.23 Thailand became the 2nd team, after U.23 Vietnam, to be present at the 2026 AFC U23 Championship.

U.23 Thailand (blue shirt) defeated U.23 Malaysia emotionally

PHOTO: SCREENSHOT

Meanwhile, U.23 Malaysia only had 3 points after 3 matches, ranked 3rd and was eliminated. Immediately after the 1-2 loss to U.23 Thailand, Malaysian media criticized the performance of coach Nafuzi Zain and his team.

Malay Mail wrote: “U.23 Malaysia in the U.23 Asian qualifiers is a team that doesn't know how to attack. The team's goals only depend on luck. In particular, on the attack line, naturalized striker Tierney has also become lonely and harmless. The naturalization policy has helped our team grow stronger quickly, continuously winning recent matches, but it has greatly affected the future, especially at the youth level. Looking at the performance of the U.23 team, we will see all the weaknesses of Malaysian football. In difficult times, Mr. Nafuzi Zain constantly stands with his arms crossed, not knowing who to replace because the reserve team is too weak."

"After the match, we probably won't be surprised when the criticism: "U.23 Malaysia was eliminated because of naturalization policy" appears everywhere on social media," Malay Mail emphasized.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/ban-thang-phut-902-dua-u23-thai-lan-den-vck-chau-a-malaysia-bi-loai-vi-nhap-tich-185250909231614497.htm