Cheng Hoe’s father, Tan Chooi Siak, 95, died at home in Alor Star about 12 hours before Malaysia’s 2-1 defeat to Vietnam in their Group G second round 2022 World Cup/2023 Asian Cup qualifiers in Dubai early this morning.
“We met him before the game and although he was grieving, he still promised to be fully focused on the match. Even the players promised to give their best,” said Yusoff, who is also the Football Association of Malaysia deputy president.
“A win would have probably eased Cheng Hoe’s pain but, unfortunately, it didn’t turn out as planned.”
In this morning’s game, Vietnam went ahead via a Nguyen Tien Linh header in the 27th minute before Malaysia equalised from the spot through Guilherme de Paula (72nd).
The joy was however shortlived. In the 82nd minute, Vietnam were awarded a contentious penalty, which Que Ngoc Hai coolly slotted home to deny Cheng Hoe’s men a share of the spoils.
Vietnam, unbeaten in seven matches, top Group G on 17 points, followed by UAE (15), Thailand (9), Malaysia (9) and Indonesia (1).
Malaysia’s final group match is against Thailand on Wednesday (12.45am).