KUALA LUMPUR, May 4: Malaysia protested hotly Monday after a penalty in the dying minutes forced them to a 1-1 draw with Saudi Arabia in the first leg of the Aslan Group E World Cup soccer pre-qualifying round here, reports AFP. "The referee spoilt the game. He's a maniac with a *whistle," Malaysia's Ken Worden said of Japanese referee Tachi Kilrhlro who blew in the 86th minute to give Saudi Arabia the penalty which saved them from a humiliating defeat.

The Saudis, who wrote Malaysia off before the game, struggled to keep their play together and fend off the homeside which attacked relentlessly after scoring in the 34th minute through forward Mubin Mokhtar off a free kick awarded after skipper Ahmad Yusof was brought down outside the penalty box.

But four minutes before the final whistle, Malaysian defender K Gunalan tackled Saudi striker Fahad Mehalel inside the box and Klirchiro awarded Saudi Arabia the penalty, taken by Khalid al-MuwalHd.

Worden, who is hoping to get Malaysia Into their first ever World Cup next year,

charged that Fahad took a dive to get the penalty.

"That was the most underserving penalty I've seen. The referee was Just blowing the whole game away. He blew even before my players could get to the ball,’ Worden told a post-match news conference.

Saudi manager Hammod Beleber al-Shammarl maintained that the penalty was legitimate, saying Gunalan should have got a yellow card for bringing Fahad down.

Worden said Malaysia, who now have two points In the first leg after drawing 1-1 with Kuwait Saturday, faced a tough path ahead despite being confident of beating Macau on Wednesday for another two points.

In the other match of the day: Kuwait trounced Macau 10-1 to boost their morale for a showdown with bitter rival Saudi Arabia Wednesday.

The Kuwaitis ran riot from the opening whistle, forcing Macau to concede two goals in the first-half, and eight more, including an own goal, after the Interval.

Striker Ali al-Hadtyah emerged top hitman for Kuwait by scoring four times while teammates Hamed al Saleh, Jasem a)-Juwaidt and Antonio Gomes helped out with two goals each.

Macau's Antonio Gomes put

Kuwait nine-up when he slotted home an own goal before Basel Abdul Rahim made it 10-0.

Daniel Pin made up for Gomes' blunder by scoring Macau's solitary goal.

The win put Kuwait tem-Erarily on the top of the first j .table before they meet Saudi Arabia for a final match Wednesday. The winner of the match wins the first leg.

Macau have been the whipping boys of the tournament since it began Saturday. They lost 6-0 to Saudi Arabia Saturday and are expected to take another drubbing from Malaysia Wednesday.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait both have three points so far for drawing wtth Malaysia and beating Macau and face each other on Wednesday. The winner of that game will top the table with five points.

The second leg of the qualifying round kicks off on May 14 in Riyadh, where the heat Is expected to favour the Saudis and Kuwaitis.