Keep the champagne on ice

12/12/2001

AFTER three consecutive wins in the Champions Challenge, Malaysia have
every right to be on cloud nine, but leave the champagne bottle in the ice
bucket. At least for now.
For, it's not time to celebrate yet. Not when the task at hand is far
from finished.
Chilling as it may sound to those who believe the team deserves a break
because they have started producing results, there are still the cobwebs
that need to be dusted out, if they harbour any hopes of doing well in the
2002 Kuala Lumpur World Cup.
Without wanting to appear like wine that's gone flat, the reality check
will tell us that the Indian side that was beaten on Monday night was
without five of their key players.
Which, the realists will agree is not exactly an accurate gauge of
Malaysia's true strength.
That aside, there were the alarming signs that would send the shivers
down any fan's spine.
In that match against India the defenders, who have had an excellent
game in the Challenge thus far, over-indugled with square passes across
the semicircle although Dhanaraj Pillay and Baljit Singh were close enough
to count the dots on the hockey ball.
That is definitely bad hockey.
Some call that confidence, while others would have described it as being
simply foolish.
The heart-stopping moment during the match against India was when
defender Madzli Ikmar received a square cross from Nor Azlan Bakar while
he was just a few feet away from the Malaysian goal-line. The speedy
Dhanaraj, almost made Malaysia pay for that folly but Madzli kept his cool
and pushed the ball out.
Coach Paul Lissek has taught them well on how to execute back and square
passes to change the rhythm of play, but at times he too is baffled
because some of the passes made are too close for comfort.
And in the World Cup, mistakes like this will not go unpunished by the
top six teams in the world. And the top six is what the Malaysian Hockey
Federation believe this side can achieve.
The other sore point that the team displayed against India, was their
tendency to lose their cool and question the umpire's decisions. This ugly
side of the team needs to be arrested fast.
They did not raise a single objection while playing against Japan and
Belgium, but against India even Nor Azlan Bakar, who always keeps both his
hands on the stick and his body close to the turf, was seen arguing with
the umpire.
Malaysian skipper Mirnawan Nawawi, instead of telling the players to
shut up and play to the whistle, was at his worst behaviour against India
and received a green card for questioning the umpire consistently.
In the end, the entire team was disorganised for about five minutes
after protesting the penalty stroke awarded and were lucky that India
failed to make it count.
It might appear petty to some, but even the best of teams will vouch
that once the players start questioning the umpire's decision, it becomes
harder for the team to reach the top of the podium.
But overall, the team has more good points than bad and the main reason
why they have started winning matches is because they have mastered the
basics.
"It is simply amazing how the team rarely made any mistakes in stopping
the ball, I have been following hockey for a long time and normally the
main problem with Malaysian players was making dead stops and accurate
passes.
"But this team has mastered the basics and although it is not a
brilliant side, it was realy heartwarming to see them give their total
commitment to the game," said a veteran hockey fan.
Fitness is another plus sign in this team because in the past, Malaysia
rarely played well in the last 20 minutes of a match because they were not
fit.
In the three matches that Malaysia have played in the Challenge, they
came charging at the opponent in the second half because they were
physically fitter. And even though 10 players in the national side only
break their fast one hour before the match, there were no signs to show
that they were dehydrated or lacked the energy to chase for every ball.
Today, Malaysia meet another highly-rated opponent in Argentina, who are
second on the standings with six points, and by the look of things, if
they keep both their hands on the hockey stick instead of having one arm
in the air always ready to protest, winning three more points is not
impossible.
And now that the team has shown that they can win matches, it is time
the fans showed up in numbers to support them because they will definitely
need their help to beat a stubborn Argentinian side.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
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