Malaysia were dealt another blow in their AFF Suzuki Cup preparations as they went down 3-0 to Syria on a wet Wednesday night at the Shah Alam stadium in what was their third defeat in their last four games.
Since Dollah Salleh took over over as national team coach in June, Malaysia have lost to Tajikistan (4-1) and Indonesia (2-0) while their only victory came in a 4-1 win over Cambodia.
Dollah's men were a disaster from start to finish as goals from Nadim Sabag, Sanharib Malki and Omar Khrbin gave the home fans little reason to cheer. Harimau Malaya, who take on Myanmar in their Group B opener on Nov. 23 at the Jalan Besar stadium, finished the game with 10 men after Fadhli Shas was shone a red card with nine minutes remaining.
With only four minutes on the clock, the Malaysian defence was caught napping as Sabag ghosted in to fire a loose ball from outside the box to beat goalkeeper Farizal Marlias, who had a torrid time between the sticks.
The torrential rain continued to pelt down and the attacking duo of Amri Yahyah and Norshahrul Idlan Talaha fluffed their chances in front of goal while the visitors failed to capitalise on some sloppy defending to close out the first-half with a slender one-goal lead.
As Dollah's men looked to fight back in the second period, the Malaysian defence led by captain Shukor Adan were caught out against with Syria skipper Malki putting the finishing touches in the 48th minute following a goalmouth melee.
Things went from bad to worse in the 65th minute when the visitors scored their third goal through Khrbin. He was presented with an easy header after Farizal failed to deal with a simple cross that came into his box.
Just when the beleaguered home fans thought the worst had happened, defender Fadhli received his marching orders in the 81st minute to cap off a humiliating night for the 2010 Suzuki Cup champions.
Malaysia will travel to Hanoi to take on Suzuki Cup co-hosts Vietnam on Sunday in what will be the last warm-up game before Dollah names his final 22 for the tournament.
Harimau Malaya are in Group B alongside Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.