AHMAD Hazwan Bakri earned his first senior cap as a substitute with a sweet second-half hat-trick in Malaysia's 6-0 victory over Sri Lanka at the Shah Alam Stadium last Saturday.
It was also a memorable night for winger Wan Zack Haikal Wan Noor and Azamuddin Mohd Akil, who both scored their first international goals.
In only his second international appearance, Wan Zack struck a first half brace but Hazwan Bakri was Malaysia's hero as he made an instant impact as a substitute for Safee Sali.
"I'm very happy to have scored a hat-trick on my debut as a substitute. But there is still a lot to learn as the hat-trick doesn't guarantee me a regular start," said Hazwan Bakri.
The win, which is their biggest since the 5-0 thrashing of Lesotho in September 2009, marks the end of Malaysia's seven-match winless run since last July against a new-look Sri Lanka, who are preparing for tournament in Palestine next month.
Wan Zack, who made his international debut against the Philippines in February, scored his first in the 25th minute when he beat Sri Lanka's off-side trap to latch on a pass from captain Safiq Rahim before tucking the ball home past an out of position keeper Sinnath Weearsinghe.
Two minutes later, Wan Zack scored his second from an apparent offside position but the flag stayed down. Sri Lanka players were furious but referee Suhaizi Shukri brushed off their protests.
Safee thought he had scored his first international goal of the year in the 29th minute but the linesman flagged off-side.
After the breather, the tiring Safee, was replaced by Hazwan Bakri in the 70th minute and a minute later, the 20-year-old scored his first international goal before adding his second and third in the 82nd and 90th minutes respectively.
By: Ajitpal Singh NST
Picture by Osman Adnan
0 comments:
Post a Comment