30,000 fans came to Darul Aman Stadium to support their local team, Kedah and helping Brazilian team to collect money for the Cyclone Nargis sufferers in Myanmar. Coming with lot of experiences in football, Brazilian did not need any warm up session prior to game. Only two players which is goalkeeper and a field player turn up for Brazil, while Kedah having full squad consist of 24 players warm up to prevent injury before the game kick off.

All four new players make their home debut in front of home supporters to unleashed them for local supporters. Afif Amiruddin picked Cornelius Bernard Hugging position to pair with A. Victor. Shahrulnizam Mustapha paired with Ahmad Fauzi Shaari in the engine room. Azrul Ahmad and Farizal Rozali pair upfront to complete the 4-4-2 tactical mastermind by Azraai Khor Abdullah.

It was Azrul Ahmad and Farizal Rozali who take the limelight in their debut with their pace and good football technique. Overview, supporters confident that Azrul Ahmad can fill the place left by Malaysia Super League top scorer, Marlon Alex James.
Kedah start well in the first 10 minutes by playing neat short passes against the experience Brazilian. However, silly mistakes by Afif Amiruddin who brought down Silvio in the penalty box result the first goal for away team. 1994 World Cup winner Paulo Sergio made no mistake to convert the penalty kick.

Unworried by first goal, the Malaysians pushed forward for an equalizer, with in cooperation Azrul and Farizal wasteful their chances. The equalizing goal actually come in the 33rd minute, when the Canaries, Fadly Baharom head the ball past Brazilian goalkeeper net, Fabio Freitas to send the 28,000-strong fans into a frenzy. However the linesman ruled it offside even it is clear that his decision is wrong.

The Kedah players and bench complaint the decision but the referee stood firm. The skilled Brazilian players took benefit of the confusion to pursuit straight away to the other end and make it 2-0 through Silvio.

The downhearted Canaries let another goal go it coming from former Barcelona star Giovanni who lobbed beautifully past Helmi Eliza from 20 metres out in the 36th minute, and Silvio finished off a good Sergio move for Brazil’s fourth three minutes later. The match ended 4-0 at half time.

Kedah came out amazingly to fight back after the breather, and were pleased in the 61st minute when Badrol Bakhtiar scored with a deflected freekick. The fast tiring Brazil then adopted a more defensive approach to contain the speedier Kedah players and protect their three-goal cushion until the final whistle.

But the unbalanced scoreline did not mirror the true scenery of the game, in which the Malaysian treble champions gave their famous opponents a good run for their money.


Video uploaded by azhhashim