M'sia footballer falls & rolls around after running into S'pore footballer's hand during 0-0 draw

During a tense 0-0 draw played out between Singapore and Malaysia on Dec. 20 for a place in the Asean Football Championship semi-finals, one moment stood out for its levity.

At the 63th minute, Malaysia's Endrick clutched his head, crumpled to the pitch and rolled around after running into the outstretched hand of Singapore's Amirul Adli.

Playacting?

The comical moment, which drew comments about playacting as it made its rounds on the internet internationally, was later shared to the Complaint Singapore Facebook group on Dec. 22.

Adli could be seen holding the ball and pointing at Endrick over his shoulder, while seemingly remonstrating with the referee.

In response, Endrick knocked the ball out of Adli's hands, causing Adli to protest with his arms outstretched.

The Malaysian player ran over and, while doing so, his head made brief contact with Adli's hand.

He then clutched his head as if in pain and rolled on the ground.

Adli looked at the referee with a bemused grin, and the latter indicated that play should continue.

Best actor award: Online users

The incident between Endrick and Adli appeared to have taken place after a brief delay in the match due to an injury to Singapore goalie Izwan Mahbud.

Neither player was shown a card.

Adli was not judged to have fouled Endrick.

Some online users described Endrick's seemingly exaggerated reaction as "wayang" (Malay for acting).

Others said in jest that he deserved a best actor award.

Background

The match, played out at Bukit Jalil, the home stadium of the Malaysia football team, saw the hosts dominate possession but fail to break down a resolute Singapore defence, despite hitting the crossbar on multiple occasions.

This meant that Singapore secured second place in Group A, with Malaysia crashing out.

Singapore advanced to the semi-finals of the competition as a result.

Singapore will be playing Vietnam in a sold-out match at the Jalan Besar Stadium for the first leg of the semi-finals on Dec. 26.

Top image from Complaint Singapore/Facebook