Iraq 4 Malaysia 1: Tigers lose AFC U-23 Championship opener

Malaysia had a debut to forget at the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship as they were handed a 4-1 Group C defeat by Iraq on Wednesday.

For their first match in the competition, head coach Ong Kim Swee opted to field most of the players who started in the 2017 SEA Games final against Thailand, with Ifwat Akmal, Danial Amier and Dominic Tan being the only changes.

Although Ong was hopeful about his team's chances against Iraq a day earlier, his team went behind not long after the kick-off.

In the fifth minute, they lost the ball on the halfway line, allowing Iraq captain Bashar Resan to break on the left and set up Mohammed Jaffal for an easy header.

Stunned by the quick opener, Malaysia struggled to keep the ball, while Iraq constantly looked threatening on the attack.

A quick counter-attack after clearing a Malaysia corner saw Iraq have the ball in the back of the net again in 22nd minute, but it was ruled offside.

Five minutes later, Iraq's second goal did come to fruition after Malaysia botched a free-kick clearance, handing the ball to Amjed Attwan to power a shot past Ifwat.

The score stayed at 2-0 until the end of the first half, with Malaysia having no proper attempts on target.

After the half-time break, not only did their fortunes not improve, Malaysia fell further behind as Alaa Mhawi dashed down the right wing past an unsuspecting Safawi Rashid before finishing with his left foot.

With his team falling 3-0 behind, Ong brought on Akhyar Rashid and R. Kogileswaran for N. Thanabalan and Jafri Chew Firdaus respectively, which provided some spark for his dejected team.

Akhyar, in particular, was industrious and always on the move, eventually helping Malaysia reduce the deficit as he set up Safawi in the 78th minute.

However, Hussien Ali restored Iraq's lead almost immediately after he intercepted Nor Azam's backpass and rounded Ifwat to slot the ball into an empty net, hitting the nail in Malaysia's coffin.