Lombi breaks our hearts

16/12/2001

MALAYSIA ................. 2
Chairil Anwar (44th), Madzli Ikmar (51st)
ARGENTINA ................. 4
Jorge Lombi (5th, 25th, 28th, 59th)
MALAYSIA paid dearly for taking too long to warm up in the 3rd-4th placing
match of the Champions Challenge at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit
Jalil yesterday.
The hosts took it easy in the first half, understandably, as the match
started at 5.30pm and 10 players in the squad had yet to break their fast.
Nevertheless, they came back strongly in the second half only to be denied
by poor finishing in the last 10 minutes of play.
Jorge Lombi, for one, simply loves playing against the Malaysians as in
three encounters he has scored 10 goals. In the Osaka Olympic qualifiers,
Lombi scored all four goals in their 4-4 tie and in the classification
match, got another two goals.
Yesterday at Bukit Jalil, the Argentine brought the Malaysians to their
knees with four goals.
From the moment that Chairil Anwar failed to connect a cross from the
left in the semicircle, it was evident that Malaysia were going to face a
torrid time against Argentina in the fight for third placing.
It was, again, poor finishing which led to a miserable game in the
Argentine semicircle and even though Argentina rested their first choice
goalkeeper, Pablo Moreira and fielded Juan Manuel Vivaldi, the goalkeeper
was hardly tested in the entire first half.
And in the fifth minute, Lombi, better known for scoring penalty corner
goals, scored a field goal after finding himself all alone facing Roslan
Jamaluddin after weaving his way past several defenders.
In the last match against Argentina, where malaysia lost 2-1, Lombi
scored both the goals and yesterday, it looked like he was going to have a
gala time, not being marked at all.
The defenders, Maninderjit Singh and Nor Azlan Bakar, were not focused
on the task at hand and in the 25th minute, Lombi again got his name on
the scoreboard with another field goal.
In the 28th minute, Malaysia found themselves in deper trouble as Nor
Azlan Bakar was sent to the sin bin for a rough tackle in the semicircle.
Two minutes later, Argentina increased the pressure and off a penalty
corner attempt they won a penalty sroke when Maninderjit Singh was deemed
to have stopped the ball with his feet.
Lombi stepped up and beat Roslan Jamaluddin for his hat-trick in the
30th minute.
In the second half, there was some shape to the Malaysian attack and the
team did look more dangerous than in the first 35 minutes. There was some
urgency in their attack and in the 44th minute they managed to break the
duck.
S. Kuhan made the only intelligent pass of the match and Chairil Anwar
connected for a face-saving goal.
Three minutes later, in their haste to score more goals, K. Logan Raj
was flashed with the yellow card and Malaysia were again playing with 10
men.
But the fire was still in them and in the 51st minute, they won a
penalty corner and Maninderjit Singh's thundering shot was deflected into
goal by Madzli Ikmar.
But it became harder for Malaysia to get back into the match when in the
59th minute, Lombi deflected in his fourth goal of the match.
Credit is due to the entire team for their undying efforts, but still,
winning is what counts and Argentina finished third in the Champions
Challenge even though they were just a mediocre side yesterday.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
(END)