KUALA LUMPUR: National Juniors coach I. Vickneswaran was left puzzled after his team let their classification match against Japan in the Sultan of Johor Cup (SoJC) slip away at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru today.
Malaysia ended the six-team annual tournament in last place, losing 3-0 in the shootout after a 2-2 draw in regulation time.
In total, the team recorded five defeats (round-robin stage) and one draw (regulation play — classification match).
In the penalty shootout, Japan converted through Yuto Higuchi, Jota Nakajima and Yamato Kawahara, while Malaysia's Harris Iskandar Osman, Che Nur Aqirullah Che Khairulzi Anwar and Handzalah Abdul Hadi failed to score from the spot.
Malaysia initially took the lead through Che Nur Aqirullah in the third minute.
Japan levelled with a 48th-minute strike from Yuto Higuchi, but Harris Iskandar restored Malaysia's lead two minutes later.
However, Jun Watanabe equalised with a penalty stroke in the 58th minute, sending the match into the shootout.
Vickneswaran was left puzzled, noting his team had better ball possession and earned more penalty corners, yet failed to capitalise on these advantages.
"We had control, but mistakes cost us the game. This is alarming," said Vickneswaran after the match.
"We need to learn from this tournament and address our weaknesses. The players were inconsistent and couldn't maintain their intensity for 60 minutes."
With the Junior Asia Cup set to begin in Muscat, Oman, on Nov 26, Vickneswaran stressed the need for rapid improvement.
Malaysia also finished last in the SoJC in 2012 and 2022, but this year marked their worst performance as they failed to secure a single point in the round-robin stage.
They lost 3-2 to New Zealand, 4-1 to Japan, 4-2 to India, 2-1 to Britain, and 9-3 to Australia this year.