Sarawak player Junior Eldstal made his debut with Harimau Muda count when he helped his nations cause by assisting A. Thamil Arasu for Malaysia to win the opener of the Pesta Bola Merdeka tournament.
Junior who holds a Malaysian passport thanks to his mix parentage of Malaysian-Swedish descent, was well composed throughout the game and showed great composure for Ong Kim Swee’s men, hence making him a crowd pick for the game’s Man of The Match.
The game started off with both teams displaying careful play as the soggy and slippery pitch was clearly disrupting play.
However, as the rain subsided, the play became more open with both sides taking chances to mount more attacks on each others opponents.
The more open play gave the more dominant Harimau Muda a goal in the first minute of the second half after a flick by Junior was calmly slotted in by Thamil for the winner, hence putting Malaysia at the driving seat of the tournament with 3 points.
Later in the game, Mohd Afiq Yunos earned his marching orders when he deliberately man handled a sure goal header from Junior, but the penalty that came was saved.
