Yemen coach Sami Al Nash couldn't believe the decision to award Malaysia a stoppage-time penalty.TASHKENT – Yemen coach Sami Al Nash felt robbed after a bizarre late penalty saw his side held to a 1-1 draw by Malaysia in an AFC U-16 Championship Group D match at MHSK Stadium on Tuesday.
Yemen took the lead with a penalty by Mohammed Al Shamsi after nine minutes and appeared set to hang on for the three points despite the dismissal of defender Mohammed Boqshan midway through the second half.
But the Malaysians were awarded a penalty deep into stoppage time when defender Ahmed Al Khamri picked up the ball inside his penalty area and Mohamad Fandi successfully converted from the spot to give his side a very fortunate point.
"It was an unfair result as Malaysia didn't deserve to get a point from the game," said Al Nash at the post-match press conference.
"We should have got a win today and the referee made a strange decision.
"There was a whistle from the stands and that's why all the players stopped the game including the Malaysian striker who was chasing after the ball.
"The referee should have given a drop ball instead of awarding a penalty to Malaysia.
"It was a game full of excitement though as Malaysia gave us a tough battle and they put up a good performance.
"They have a good side and shouldn't have lost their first match."
Malaysia coach Lim Kim Chon agreed that his team got a lucky break at the end although he felt they should have equalised long before the dramatic closing minutes.
"Lady Luck was on our side tonight although we put on a good performance in the second half," said Lim.
"We wasted a lot of chances to score and we should have equalised before we were awarded the penalty.
"The game was dramatic because what we asked the players to do didn't happen while things that we didn't tell them happened but things were good at the end with the draw.
"We knew that Yemen would be aggressive and they took the lead in the first half after we gave away an unnecessary penalty. But the game changed in our favour when their defender was sent off.
"Our boys gave an excellent performance and their confidence increased especially after Yemen's number nine (Mohammed Al Shamsi) was replaced as he was a danger man for them throughout the game."
Source:The AFC.com
