Defenders hold the key

19/09/1998

GOING by past records, Malaysia have the odds stacked high against themwhen they take on India in the semifinals today. But going by current form and statistics, it projects an even match. Malaysia have an impressive defensive record of having conceded theleast number of goals - four - while India have on the other end scoredthe second highest number of goals - 21 - a record surpassed by SouthAfrica who have 25. South Africa, who were out of the semifinals, scored 12 of the goalsagainst Trinidad and Tobago in the last preliminary match, believing theystill had a chance on goal difference if India drew with New Zealand intheir last match. So it is going to be the test of the best defence versus the bestattack. India's attack is spearheaded by their 30-year-old skipper, DhanarajPillay, who is capped 308 times and is their leading goal scorer with fiveto his credit. Dhanaraj will be aided in attack by another veteran, N. Mukesh Kumar,who has 277 caps. Their speed and skills send shivers down the spines of any defence. Theconsolation for Malaysia, if any, is that their defence is solid with R.Shankar and Maninderjit Singh manning it. One of neatest thing Lissek had done to the team was to move Shankar,whose regular role was centrehalf before his arrival, to defence which wasone of the weakest areas in the team. Maninderjit Singh is a natural and reliable defender as he has proventime and again. But the two players should have better understanding as ontwo occasions, goals were scored due to a misunderstanding between them. Even if they are beaten, there is goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin who hasbeen in sterling form. Roslan, who will be playing only his 10th international match, has shownsuperb match temperament so far. Malaysian forwards will have to be sharper as they do not have manyfield goals to show. Of their nine goals scored, only two were fieldgoals. And they were not short of chances, as in the match against Canada wherethey should have led by a few goals before the controversial winning goalwas scored. Today, they will have a tougher job as the Indians have recalled veterangoalkeeper A.B. Subbaiah who is capped 213 times and improving from matchto match. Going by recent rankings in the World Cup, India finished ninth andMalaysia 11th. The last time the two teams met, India won 5-1 at the Chief Minister'sCup in Chennai in 1996. The last time Malaysia beat India was at the Olympics qualifier inAuckland in 1991. They won 3-2 with the winning goal scored by K. Embarajfrom a penalty corner. The teams have met 22 times in Malaysia and India won 18 times. Of their10 meetings in Kuala Lumpur, India won eight. In those 22 meetings, Malaysia had won only twice, once in KL and theother in Ipoh. In all, they have met a total of 32 times since the introduction ofartificial pitch and Malaysia had won only three times and drawn four. However, like Australian coach Terry Walsh said, statistics remains justthat - statistics. * Malaysian Hockey Federation competition committee chairman ThasleemIbrahim will reward the team RM5,000 for making the semifinals. He said a bigger surprise awaits them if they beat India today