The high-profile visitors
had to wait until the 34th minute to open accounts through midfielder Cesc
Fabregas's header inside the penalty box.
Unshattered by the goal, the national side dubbed
'Harimau Malaya' fought back to equalised the score through Amri Yahyah's stunning
strike in the 40th minute, earning loud cheers from the more than 45,000
spectators at the stadium.
But two minutes later, the
Spanish club grabbed back the lead when their Brazilian import striker, Neymar
tucked in an effortless goal from close range.
After the break, Gerardo
Martino's side continued to pile pressure on Malaysia and managed to score the
third goal courtesy of Gerard Pique's powerful shot inside the penalty box in
the 74th minute.
The win is the second for FC
Barcelona in their 2013/2014 Asian Tour after having whipped the Thai national
team, 7-1, in Bangkok last Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters after
the match, 'Harimau Malaya' chief coach
Datuk K. Rajagobal praised the performance of his squad despite the defeat.
He said the national squad
showed an improved game and had learnt from the mistakes made in earlier
friendly matches, especially during the visit to Japan recently.
Amri was just as excited for
having scored the marvelous goal for Malaysia.
“Despite losing the game, I
am proud of the commitment and seriousness showed by my teammates tonight,"
said the Selangor midfielder.
Incidently, it was not just for
‘Harimau Malaya’ to prove their worth but for Bernama as well.
With the last-minute change
in venue from the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil to the Shah Alam Stadium,
General Manager Datuk Yong Soo Heong sent a message to Bernama ED-Team WhatsApp
in the morning, hoping that Bernama Radio24 could make announcement about it.
“Mungkin crawler BTV dan
Bernama.Com juga ED-Team
“This is the time to show
our massive reach… we then prove our doubters wrong,” he said.
The poor condition of the
national stadium pitch had forced the match to be played in Shah Alam.
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