Over the past few months, Igor Stimac, India’s football coach, has often complained about the standard of officiating when his team plays. He’s been red-carded twice for protesting too vehemently. On Friday night, as the 42nd edition of the Merdeka Cup kicked off at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, there was more ordinary refereeing that ended any hope that India had of making the final. But this time, Stimac stayed in his technical area even as his luckless side went down 2-4 to the hosts in a match also notable for the poor quality of the playing surface.
A packed home crowd of 40,022 welcomed India, and Malaysia started the game with full intensity. They looked to press India early, but the visitors countered and had a great chance to open the scoring in the second minute. Akash Mishra came up with a beautiful cross in the box and Rahul went for a thumping volley from outside the area. However, it just rattled the post. Then, the home team came up with some threatening attacks and one of them earned them a corner in the seventh minute.
From a corner taken by Endrick, born in Brazil, Dion Cools finished emphatically on the volley to give his side a 1-0 lead. However, their joy did not last long as, in the 12th minute, India equalised, courtesy of a sensational volley from Mahesh Naorem. It was Nikhil Poojary who started the attack on the right flank and passed to Lallianzuala Chhangte. Then, he provided the ball into the box and Sahal Abdul Samad managed to flick it to set it up for Naorem.
Naorem, the East Bengal FC winger, timed his run perfectly and smashed it into the back of the net. Things were quiet for some time but in the 19th minute, Malaysia were awarded a penalty as Poojary clipped Darren Lok’s heels inside the box. Arif Aiman made no mistake and it was 2-1 for Malaysia.
After that, the home side continued to show their dominance through back-to-back attacks, as India’s defence looked clueless and all over the place. Malaysia’s wingers’ pace and continuous pressing were causing problems. In the 42nd minute, Faisal Halim made it 3-1 after Mehtab Singh gave away possession cheaply in front of the box.
India came out for the second half after a pep talk from Stimac and reduced the deficit in the 51st minute. Sunil Chhetri, India’s talismanic skipper, tapped in after Naorem gave the ball to Chhangte on the right and he set it up perfectly for the veteran striker.
Then, in the 57th minute, Chhangte had a shot inside the box and the ball seemed to go over the line after a deflection off Ahmad. India claimed the goal only for the referees to be unmoved. Stimac and his players were not happy at all as replays showed that the ball had clearly crossed the line. With no goalline technology available, it turned out to be a massive talking point.
However, after that controversial decision, the home side made it 4-2 in the 61st minute when La’Vere Corbin-Ong scored from close range. In the 69th minute, Chhangte hit the post for the second time as India ran out of luck. They continued to threaten the home defence but Syihan Hazmi, their goalkeeper, denied Samad from close range with a fantastic save.
Meanwhile, the condition of the turf was such that players were struggling to run with the ball due to rough patches here and there. Despite getting some corners in the final quarter of an hour, India failed to score. Malaysia will now face Tajikistan in the final, though Stimac will doubtless have plenty to say about the manner of their victory.