France 4
Genestet 16m; Soyez 18m; Jean-Jean 41m; Soyez AET
Malaysia 3
Hafifi Hafiz 41st, S. Selvaraju 58th, Razie Rahim 65th.
MALAYSIA took the match into extra-time, before bowing out to France 4-3 in the bronze fight at the Champions Challenge II in Dublin yesterday.
The Challenge ended with no medal to show, and now the challenge of rebuilding for the world cup qualifiers will start when they return home.
Malaysia were 2-0 down 20 minutes into the match, and it looked like it was all over, and they were heading for a hiding.
But Hafifi hafiz pulled one back in the 41st minute, only to see France sail ahead to a 3-1 lead in the 41st minute.
However, goals from S. Selvaraju and Razie Rahim in the 58th and 65th minutes respectively took Malaysia into the extra-time playoff.
However, France bounced back and scored a golden goal for the bronze medal.
Malaysia will now have to re-build before the New Delhi World Cup qualifier in November, where only the gold medallists gain entry.
There will be three qualifiers, and the four Asian teams who will play for the three tickets are Malaysia, China, Japan and Pakistan. Africa and Oceania will have one team each, while Europe will have a brigade of nine teams, and Pan America three teams.
There will be six teams battling for one ticket in each qualifier, and it looks like another uphill task for Malaysia to play in New Delhi.
RESULTS: Third-Fourth: Malaysia 3 France 3 (France win golden goal); Fifth-Sixth: Japan 9 Russia 2; Seventh-Eighth: Austria 4 Chile 2.
