Despite suffering a 2-1 loss to Indonesia on Wednesday, Malaysia still won their first title at Southeast Asian football championship with a 4-2 win in total after two legs.
Goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat saved an early penalty and Safee Sali netted his fifth goal of the tournament to take Malaysia to the final victory.
Trailing 3-0 from the first leg in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, Indonesia staged in the game more aggressively in a bid to cut the deficit.
Mohammad Nasuha pulled back a goal with 18 minutes remaining and Muhammad Ridwan scored with a deflected effort two minutes from time to give Indonesia the win.
Malaysian Ashari Samsuddin launched the ball forward to Safee, who outpaced the Indonesian defense before lashing the ball into the top left corner of the net for his tournament-leading fifth goal.
The crowd, which included Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, had filled every seat in the 85,000-capacity stadium nearly two hours before kick-off, hoping to roar their team on to the quick start that they needed to turn the tie around after their decisive loss in the first leg.
The Indonesian continued to press but could not manage another breakthrough until the 88th minute when Ridwan's shot from the edge of the box took a deflection off a Malaysian defender on its way past Khairul.
Bambang had a chance to net a third for the Indonesians in stoppage time but his free-kick was well saved by Khairul as the Malaysians easily hung on to claim the title.
