23. Coach Sacked

NEWSFLASH, 2.55am

Malaysia coach sacked over Asian Cup debacle

Malaysia coach Norizan Bakar paid the price for his team's atrocious Asian Cup showing when he was sacked on Wednesday ( last night ).

Norizan, 46, said he had been given his marching orders before the 2-0 defeat to Iran which followed embarrassing 5-1 and 5-0 routs by China and Uzbekistan.

"I was told by the FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) that my assignment had finished at the Asian Cup," he told reporters.

"To me this is the game. In coaching there is always winning and losing -- football is all about results. If it's that way then I have to take it."

Norizan enjoyed a successful domestic coaching stint with Perlis before being appointed Malaysia coach in 2005.

But the former assistant to Abdul Rahman Ibrahim and Allan Harris has enjoyed only mixed results.

The Asian Cup has brought Malaysia's demise from a regional power to the tournament's bottom-ranked team into painful perspective, with the FAM's deputy president also stepping down on Sunday.

Malaysia finished bottom of Group C with no points and a goal-difference of minus 11 - AFP.