FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

North Korea reign supreme over Malaysia

North Korea reign supreme over Malaysia

Kim Yu-Song scored a hat-trick for North Korea for their second win over Malaysia 4-1  in four days in the  their Asian Cup Qualifiers Group B game played on neutral ground at the i-Mobile Stadium in Buriram in Thailand on Monday.

 

Kim stole the limelights by scoring in the 15th, 20th and 44 th minutes for his side who just outclassed the Asean nation with the same scoreline  in their last encounter on Friday at this same venue. North Korea’s lone goal in the second half came from Pak Kwang Ryong in the  79th minute.

As it appeared North Korea would walk way with a whitewashing victory, Safawi  Rasid caught the rival team off guard to blast a long shot in the 85th minute for Malaysia’s only goal in the evening.

Thailand has been selected as the site for their showdown after Malaysian government prohibited its citizens to visit North Korea. Malaysia’s foreign ministry cited North Korea’s missile tests and related developments as the reasons for imposing the travel ban.

Back-to-back wins over Malaysia propelled the Jorn Andersen’s side to second spot of Group B with eight points, two behind Lebanon who already reserved their slot for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup in United Arab Emirates.

With Malaysia already losing the chance to go to the UAE, it comes down to North Korea and Hong Kong who are at third with five points in the group standing to battle it out for the second spot. 

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