Abu Dhabi: The UAE’s 10-0 mauling of Malaysia in Thursday night’s World Cup qualifier in Abu Dhabi led to the resignation of the visitors’ beleaguered coach Dollah Salleh on Friday.
“I am responsible for the defeat and have taken the decision to quit as the national coach with immediate effect,” the 51-year-old former striker told reporters on arriving with his team at Kuala Lumpur Airport on Friday.
Salleh had been in the role for a little more than a year, having become national team coach in June 2014.
He was likely to be sacked anyway, however, given that Thursday’s drubbing was Malaysia’s heaviest defeat in their history, eclipsing 8-2 defeat to New Zealand in 1967.
Esmail Ebrahim, crown prince of the country’s Johur state, had led calls for Salleh to be axed, saying that the Johur FA would provide funds for a new foreign coach.
This followed a woefully inept display in which the hapless away side used three goalkeepers, which many observers missed so dizzying was the blitzkrieg, as the UAE scored five times in 11 minutes to lead 7-0 at the break.
Khairul Fahmi was hauled off 27 minutes into the hammering after conceding four goals, while his replacement Zamir Selamat had to be substituted for Khairul Khalid just past the hour after colliding with UAE striker Ali Mabkhout.
Little wonder, then, that Salleh cut a bemused and bedraggled figure in the aftermath of the destruction at the Mohammad Bin Zayed Stadium.
Salleh, whose side lie bottom of the Asian zone Group A after one point from their three games, and who have been beaten 6-0 by both Oman and Palestine in the last six months, said: “I don’t know what happened tonight. We gave away cheap goals, then everything collapsed.
“The UAE played fantastic football, especially [midfielder] Omar Abdul Rahman, a super player. He kills everyone.
"Overall, I just don’t know what to say.”
