CHIANG MAI: It was a penalty shootout heartbreak for Malaysia as Dion Cools, Nazmi Faiz Mansor and Safawi Rasid missed the spot in a crushing King's Cup defeat to Tajikistan at Chiang Mai Stadium, here, today.
The match, played on a muddy pitch, ended 0-0 forcing penalties to decide the outcome.
Tajikistan goalkeeper Rustam Yatimov was the toast of the Central Asian side during the shootout, saving the opening two penalties and forcing Safawi to make a mistake from this attempt.
Despite the defeat, world No 148 Malaysia have earned valuable Fifa ranking points for the draw in regulation time against their world No 109 opponent.
Harimau Malaysia came close to scoring in the 23 minute. However, midfielder Brendan Gan's header flew inches wide.
In the second half, Akhyar Rashid produced a wonderful dribbling run to beat three players but slipped just when he was about to take a shot. Safawi found space just outside the box minutes later but his powerful drive could not beat Rustam.
Tajikistan had no clear chances inside the Malaysian penalty box but had three long range efforts blocked by Malaysian keeper Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Mohamed.