Malaysia held their own against English Premier League giants Chelsea, going down 0-1 to the more illustrious side in an international friendly at the National Satdium here Thursday night.
Though they lost, the Malaysian selection, a mix of junior players and former national players under the guidance of coach Ong Kim Swee, took the fight to their opponents and kept them at bay in the first half.
The solitary goal in the match was scored by Didier Drogbar in the 78th minute.
The West London side known as The Blues with household names like Fernando Torres and Frank Lampard were quick off the blocks when referee Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh blew the starting whistle.
Torres who was bought by Chelsea for 50 million pounds from Liverpool last year, was almost on the mark in the second minute but good goalkeeping by Mohd Farizal Marlias saved the day for Malaysia.
There was another close call for Malaysia in the 17th minute but Lampard's piledriver went wide.
S. Subramaniam and Norhafiz Zamani Misbah in defence also played a sterling role in deflecting Chelsea's raids.
Seeing Chelsea dominating the game, Ong brought in Mohd Fandi Othman and Wan Zaharul Nizam Wan Zakaria and took out Wan Zack Haikal Wan Nor Wan and Mohd Daudsu Jamaluddin which somewhat stabilised the Malaysian side.
Chelsea's keeper Henrique Hilario who had been twiddling his thumbs was given a scare in the 28th minute when Wan Zack Haikal Wan Nor made an attempt at goal.
Thereafter there was an ebb and flow to the game and it continued even though Chelsea fielded an entirely new lineup in the second half.
Malaysia had good opportunity to go up in the 67th minute but poor finishing by Syahrul Azwari Ibrahim let the team down.
Controversy surrounded Drogba's 78th minute goal as the shot taken from 20 metres out struck the crossbar and bounced into the arms of Mohd Izham but assistant referee M. Sivanesan lifted his flag to signify the ball had crossed the goal line.
Malaysia tried to fight back but to no avail.
This is the third meeting between Chelsea and Malaysia with Chelsea winning on both the previous occasions, 4-1 in 2003 and 2-0 in 2008.
The friendly was part of Chelsea's Asian Tour.
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