A draw against Myanmar in the opening match that was followed by this defeat to Philippines in the second match and that initial idea of looking at Group A as an easy group for Ong Kim Swee and his Malaysia Under-23 side to go through to semi-final stage is now looking further and further away.
Fourth in group now behind Myanmar, Cambodia and Philippines; it would be a tall order for Malaysia to reach the last four of the competition they finished second in, just two years ago.
While the match against Timor Leste could be seen as a sure win, the same cannot be said of the match against Cambodia, so there's no assurance that Malaysia could even pick up the wins they need.