Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Malaysia lost 0-2 to Oman in the match 2026 World Cup Qualification and captain Dion Cools is one of the figures who has received a lot of criticism.
Dion Cools, who holds the captain’s armband, cannot provide a sense of security in the back line. Dion Cools was even considered not to have shown the fighting spirit worthy of standing as a leader on the field.
One of the moments that received sharp criticism in cyberspace was when Malaysia decided to play short passes and organize attacks from below. When goalkeeper Syihan Hazmi fed Dion Cools, he immediately returned the ball to Syihan Hazmi.
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From his hand gesture, Dion Cools asked Syihan Hazmi to pass in the other direction. However, Syihan Hazmi returned the ball to Dion Cools. Dion Cools looked panicked and immediately kicked the ball which hit Mohammed Al Ghafri.
It wasn’t just the blunder that received attention from netizens, but also Dion Cools’ reaction after that. He didn’t seem ready to immediately chase the ball and try to pay for his mistake.
When Al Ghafri controlled the ball he just tried to shadow it without making any strong pressing efforts. Al Ghafri then fired a shot and only hit the crossbar.
In the replay uploaded by Astro Arena, Malaysian netizens also highlighted Dion Cools’ attitude on the field.
“Dion is not worthy of being captain,” said a netizen.
“Is the mentality of a captain like this? This part is surprising, it makes me want to just curse,” said another netizen.
“If I play football like this, I also think I have the opportunity to play,” said another netizen.
“You know you lost the ball like this, you should recover quickly,” said the next netizen.
Two defeats to Oman in March have left Malaysia in a difficult position at the moment. Malaysia has only collected six points, behind Oman and Kyrgyzstan who have recorded nine points.
[Gambas:Video CNN]
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