Chelsea nearly humiliated by Malaysia!!! 21 July 2011

The Blues were saved from Blushes, struggling to beat Malaysia 1-0 in a friendly and only scored late in the 2nd half through a controversial Didier Drogba goal which was awarded despite the ball not crossing the goal-line completely.

Superstars in world football such as Fernando Torres, Nikolas Anelka, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Michael Essien, Jon Obi Mikel, Yossi Benayoun, Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou could not break the Malaysian defence.



However in the end, Didier Drogba scored Chelsea's solitary winning goal via a hotly disputed free kick goal in the 78th minute.

The Goal was disputed by the Malaysian teams as well as the 84,890 strong home crowd (the biggest in Malaysian history) as it did not cross the goal line completely, and it should have been 0-0.

Star studded Chelsea was nearly humiliated by the under-strength Malaysian national side in a friendly match at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, Kuala Lumpur on Thursday night, 21st July 2011.

The Blues only managed a 1-0 win and that winning goal saw the boal off a free kick by Drogba in the 78th minute, did not cross the goal line completely.

Remember Chelsea's Frank Lampard disallowed goal during the 1-4 England loss to Germany in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa..?? The Clear Goal by Lampard was disallowed by a FIFA class referee and yet the 50% Chelsea goal in Malaysia tonight was allowed by the referee. Why referee why??

The disputed Drogba goal below :



Now compare that to Chelsea's Frank Lampard disallowed goal at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa in the England vs Germany match.



If that was not considered a Goal, then why Drogba goal was allowed tonight 21st July 2011 in Kuala Lumpur???

To Save the Blues from Blushes??

Malaysia also had goal scoring chances and if they converted one of the chances as shown below, then Andre Vilass-Boas will have a hotter seat than Carlo Ancelotti last season.

Malaysia should have been an equaliser on 84 minutes after a clever pass between the Chelsea centre-backs but Thamil Arasu wasted it, to his and his team-mates disbelief.



For the record Malaysia fielded an understrength squad due to Malaysia having an international fixture in Singapore this weekend 23rd July 2011, a World Cup qualifying match against neighbour Singapore.

So the Malaysian team that nearly humiliated the star studded Chelsea team only consisted of the Malaysian Olympic (Under 23) team, augmented by a few senior club players.

The team was different and weaker than the one that lost 0-4 to Arsenal and 3-6 to Liverpool earlier this month.

Full Match highlights here :



The Under 23 team is also known as Harimau Muda A (which translates as Young Tigers) and competes in the domestic league. They finished fifth last campaign.

Senior players who featured included :

Mohd Badri Mohd Radzi - a 29-year-old playmaker/midfielder who is captain of Kelantan, the reigning Malaysian champions. He also lifted the Malaysian Cup a year earlier although has no internaitional caps to date. He wears number 16 shirt due to his admiration for Roy Keane.

The name Hairudin Omar might be familiar to Chelsea fans with a good memory.

He scored Malaysia's solitary goal in the 4-1 loss to the Blues at the 2003 FA Premier League Asia Cup a powerful header that keeper Marco Ambrosio could only palm into the net.

The forward is now 31 and has been a league champion and won the Malaysia Cup with three different clubs.

Mohd Amri Yahyah is the 30-year-old captain of 2009 and 2010 Malaysian Super League champions Selangor.

A striker or midfielder, he scored two goals against Manchester United during their 2009 visit to Kuala Lumpur. He was part of the national side that won the 2010 Asian Football Federation Cup.

Joseph Kalang Tie who had a trial with Hartlepool United 2008.

By contrast, Chelsea started by fielding a world class front three of Fernando Torres flanked by Salomon Kalou on the left and Yossi Benayoun on the right.

Florent Malouda was on the left so starting captain Frank Lampard moved to a less accustomed right berth.

Josh McEachran was again the deeper of the midfield three and there was a second appearance for centre-back Slobodan Rajkovic following the Wycombe game. He was paired with Branislav Ivanovic.

The second-half side was 11 different players with young Nathaniel Chalobah partnering John Terry and Billy Clifford and Yury Zhirkov both in midfield. Didier Drogba led the line with Nicolas Anelka left and Daniel Sturridge right.

And the result was a controversial 1-0!!! Viva Malaysia... Viva Liverpool.. You will never walk alone!!