Malaysia gained their first point in the Asian Cup qualification round after a 1-1 against Hong Kong on Tuesday night but it does little to improve Malaysia's chances of progressing through to the finals in United Arab Emirates in 2019.
Hong Kong took the lead through Alessandro 'Sandro' Leonardo in the 53rd minute of the match but Syazwan Zainon equalised just three minutes later. Malaysia lost their cool late in the match as Rizal Ghazali and Aidil Zafuan both saw red after being shown two yellow cards..
Even with two men less, Malaysia survived a late penalty as Hafizul Hakim made a superb save to deny Sandro. However, the circumstances surrounding those late sending-offs and the ensuing chaos on the pitch after the final whistle had been blown cast a large shadow over proceedings.
"From the games we've played, maybe today [Tuesday] was our best game. We created many chances. The speed, the attitude and determination were stronger than the games before. Yes, we also made mistakes."
"So many times when we were on the counter attack but the players insisted on dribbling when there were other players in better position - maybe now we could be talking about a win.
"Today was very hard for us because Hong Kong is not so weak as many people think. We lost two points but now I believe we have a team. The players understand my philosophy and the way I work.
"If we are talking about chance and ball possession, Anyway, we have at least stop losing games and losing in the last minute. Our goalkeeper made a fantastic save, so we cannot say it's lucky. I think for me, even a draw feels like a bad taste to me because we deserve to win," said Eduardo Vingada at the post-match press conference.
The chaos after the match ended saw angry reactions from Vingada himself, Amirulhadi Zainal and Aidil as they took turns to remonstrate with the match officials. Security had to step in to ensure nothing untowards happened but for Vingada, the reaction came because he felt his team was treated harshly.
"We are human beings. If we don't react, people will say we are cold. If this was in Egypt or in Iran, the referee will have a lot of problems leaving the stadium. Here we are very kind. The game is over."
"Players make mistake, I make mistakes and the referee also make mistakes. Usually when a player or a coach make a mistake, they could be sent away. But when a referee make a mistake, they could still be in charge of the next game.
If we don't react, I will say what kind of a sh*t people we have around me. We have to react. Nobody kicked referee and nobody boxed him. It was a normal reaction," explained Vingada.
When asked if the draw meant that it was a lost opportunity for Malaysia to stake a real claim for one of two qualification spots, given that Lebanon and North Korea had played to a draw earlier in the day - Vingada remained relaxed about the situation as the qualification outcome is still in Malaysia's hands.
"If North Korea had won, it would have been the same. Maybe a draw or a loss was good for Malaysia. But the best thing would have been for Malaysia to win the game. The pressure was not more or less because of that result."
"A loss today would be a six-pointer. But we draw and now it still depend on us. Today had we lost, we would not be out completely but almost. However, I believe we fought well and played well," added Vingada.
Malaysia's next match in the group will be against North Korea, with the match to be played on 5th October.
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