DOHA: Here is the greatest irony about Malaysia at the Asian Cup in Doha. When it is clear that they are going nowhere, the statistics show that Malaysia are among the top 10 in the 24-team tournament with the highest rate in passing accuracy.
Wow. At least that is something Malaysia are good at.
But will Harimau Malaya's "good passing" get them out of trouble following their humiliating 4-0 loss to Jordan in Monday's Group E opener?
Fans will hope that the "good passing" will lead to Malaysia scoring goals against Bahrain tomorrow.
The Asian Football Confederation statistics say Malaysia have a passing accuracy of 81 per cent. The same was recorded by hosts Qatar and Vietnam.
Taking the lead is 2015 Asian Cup champions Australia with 89 per cent followed by South Korea (88 per cent ), Saudi Arabia (87 per cent ), Japan (86 per cent), Iraq (85 per cent ) and Uzbekistan (85 per cent ).
Here is another irony. Malaysia's Syihan Hazmi, despite picking up the ball four times from the net against Jordan, is in the top 10 goalkeepers list for the most number of saves made.
So, Syihan kept the scores down when Malaysia were being pummelled by Jordan. He made four saves and is tied in fourth place with India's G. Singh Sandhu, Yapp Hung Fai of Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates' Khalid Eisa.
The positive things aside, there are other statistics that sound grim to Harimau Malaya when they meet Bahrain.
Malaysia have lost all their previous two meetings against the Muharabi Dilmun.
Malaysia went down 2-0 to Bahrain in a friendly in 2021 in Riffa. A year later, Malaysia lost 2-1 to Bahrain in an Asian Cup qualifier in Kuala Lumpur.
However, the Malaysian team have promised fans that they will give a performance that will pass muster against Bahrain.