Indonesia’s national soccer team has three more qualifiers scheduled for next year – against Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam – but with no points collected so far, the troubled team is unlikely to ever reach the 2022 Cup.

Cheered on by the home crowd at Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia defeated Indonesia 2-0, all courtesy of winger Muhammad Safawi.

Safawi produced a stunning free-kick in the 30th minute after he was fouled close to the box by Indonesia’s Yanto Basna. Later, he scored the second goal in the 73rd, making the most of a blunder by Indonesian captain Yanto. Safawi had chances to make it a hat trick, which were denied by the post and the guests’ goalkeeper.

Indonesia was led by interim coach Yeyen Tumena after head coach Simon McMenemy was sacked due to the team’s poor performance throughout the qualifiers.

Yeyen admitted that his squad’s flaws had contributed to Malaysia’s victory.

“We lost the chance to make a goal, [and they took] advantage of our blunders to score.

“Malaysia’s two goals were like our gift for them,” Yeyen told the press after the match as quoted by news agency Antara.

Indonesia had two chances for a goal in the first half, but Febri Haryadi and Greg Nwokolo failed to make it happen.

In the second half, Indonesia’s Osas Saha was awarded a penalty in the 83rd, offering a chance to at least close the goal gap, but his easy-to-read shot frustrated fans at home.

Despite the wasted penalty kick, Yeyen refused to look down on his players. However, he said he would take the failure as a turning point for the Indonesian team to rise up.

“I’ll say the [missed] penalty was our turning point. Regardless, the 90-minute match has ended and we cannot change the result,” he added.

Febri, who immediately congratulated the opposing team after the final whistle, apologized to the home fans for his team’s disappointing performance.

“We are aware that the end result was not as expected and that it was a disappointment, but we, the players, have done our best. We worked really hard on the pitch, but we failed to make use of the opportunities,” he added.