Blue Samurai Too Good For Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's Harimau Muda A (Olympic) squad lost 0-4 to Japan in their home leg match against the Blue Samurai in Group C of the 2012 Asian Zone Olympic Qualifiers at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil here Wednesday. Japan wasted no time in going for the jugular and came close to scoring several times in the early minutes but Malaysia's keeper and captain Khairul Fahmi Che Mat performed splendidly in keeping them at bay. Malaysia also had a chance to get ahead in the 24th minute but a free kick taken by Wan Zaharulnizam Wan Zakaria went wide. Japan then stepped up the tempo and mounted waves of attacks on the Malaysian goal and managed to break the deadlock when Sakai Hiroki netted their first goal in the 35th minute. A minute from half-time, Osako Yuya scored their second goal from a header. On resumption, the Blue Samurai were in no mood the give the Malaysians any quarter and went on to score two more goals, through Haraguchi Gengki in the 55th minute and Saito Manabu five minutes later. The match ended with the score standing at 4-0. Japan are scheduled to play Bahrain next (on March 14). Malaysia have lost all their matches in the qualifier and are languishing at the bottom of Group C. The last time Malaysia qualified for the football competition of the Olympics was in 1972 when it was held in Munich, Germany (then known as West Germany). -- BERNAMA