A 2-2 draw is not the end of the Malaysian national team struggle in the Asean Cup after failing to beat Cambodia in their opening Group A match at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh Cambodia last night.

According to national team general manager Paulo Marti Vicente he is confident that his team will rise to another level in the second match against Timor-Leste which is scheduled to be held at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Wednesday.

He said he still believes the national team will be able to advance to the semi-finals next time.

He said in a press conference after the match that now we have two more days to prepare for the next match. As I said this is only the first match so we have to fight to get to the semi-finals.

Yes this is our goal. This is what we want. We want to win every match.

In this match Malaysia took the lead through Stuart Wilkin header in the first half.

But immediately in the second half Malaysia defense was shaken a bit and the home team broke through with two goals from Adel Kader and Sar Thi before Fergus Tierney saved to make it 2-2 and grab a point.

Besides Cambodia and Timor-Leste Malaysia will also face Thailand in their third match in Bangkok on Saturday before closing out their group stage campaign against Singapore in Bukit Jalil on December 20.

Malaysia last won the title in 2010 which remains the only Southeast Asian nation to do so. The team also finished third in 1996 2014 and 2018.

In 2022 Harimau Malaya reached the semi-finals but were upset by Thailand who won 3-1 on aggregate before the Brown Elephants claimed their seventh title after beating Vietnam 3-2 in the final.