Anh Đức

KUALA LUMPUR — The ASEAN All-Stars team beat the 2025 UEFA Europa League finalist, England's Manchester United, 1-0 to win the Maybank Challenge Cup in Malaysia on Wednesday.

Maung Maung Lwin's goal late in the second half was enough to bring victory to coach Kim Sang-sik's team and put another dent in an already miserable season for one of the English Premier League's former Big Six teams.

United, fresh off their 2-0 win against Aston Villa at home on the final day of the Premier League, went straight to Manchester Airport last Sunday and arrived in Kuala Lumpur on Monday evening. Ruben Amorim's team had one training session on Tuesday to prepare for the match.

Kim Sang-sik's ASEAN All-Stars, on the other hand, played together for the first time and even had last-minute replacements due to players leaving the squad for either personal reasons or injury problems. Four young stars from Australia's A-League, also a member of the ASEAN Football Federation, were called up by Kim.

Red Devils' captain, Bruno Fernandes, did not start, with United fielding three youngsters in the starting eleven.

But they did feature experienced internationals including Harry Maguire, Manuel Ugarte and Casemiro.

Nguyễn Hai Long was the only Vietnamese player to start the match for Kim's team, with Malaysia's Sergio Aguero captaining the ASEAN All-Stars.

ASEAN All-Stars gave United a run for their money early on, with Hai Long proving menacing on the right wing. The Hà Nội FC player, who arrived late in Malaysia after playing a full 90 minutes in the Hà Nội derby on Monday, fired a shot that went just wide in the sixth minute and had at least three opportunities in the first half.

United fans on social media even called for the club to sign the Vietnamese attacker after his first-half performance.

The 20-time Premier League champions did have chances of their own. Kobbie Mainoo had two golden opportunities to put the Red Devils in front, but the brilliance of Thailand's Patiwat Khammai denied the Englishman.

Both teams replaced all of their players during half-time, but the changes did not change the direction of the game.

United brought on Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho but still struggled to find Patiwat's net, while Kim's All-Stars squad stayed strong in defence.

The breakthrough came in the 71st minute through a counter-attack by the All-Stars. 20-year-old Adrian Segecic pulled off a splendid through ball that found Maung Lwin inside United's penalty area.

The Burmese forward, with only Tom Heaton to beat, pulled off a powerful right-footed shot to open the score for the All-Stars.

United pushed forward, but the jaded and fatigued legs of the men in red could not crack the resilience of the All-Stars defence. Even as Tom Heaton went inside the box in a late corner hoping for a Hail Mary play, Kim Sang-sik's men held on to their slim lead.

The ASEAN All-Stars, for the first time, won the Maybank Challenge Cup before 60,000 fans in Bukit Jalil National Stadium, denying United's only chance at consolation silverware.

"We should have played better," said Amorim in the post-match press conference, "the team played slow and did not show their best."

United will play their final friendly game in this post-season tour against Hong Kong XI on Friday, hoping to end their trip on a high.

Coach Kim Sang-sik and four Vietnamese players, on the other hand, will catch the earliest flight back to Hà Nội for the Việt Nam national football team's Asian Cup qualifiers training camp. VNS