Mechanical Malaysia win

08/12/2001

HOSTS Malaysia did not engage in any fancy stuff but still managed to edge
Japan in their opening Champions Challenge match at the National Hockey
Stadium in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
With the win, Malaysia picked up three valuable points and remain in
contention for a Champions Trophy ticket which comes with the Challenge
title.
Malaysia played a straightforward game which proved very effective. At
times they were very German-like.
The Malaysians had a major share of possession thanks to the good work
of Maninderjit Singh and Nor Azlan Bakar whose passes from the back were
accurate.
But the forwards lacked bite and urgency to score. Mirnawan Nawawi
rarely got the ball and Tajol Rosli only showed flashes of brilliance.
Japanese goalkeeper Jun Takahashi was also very uncompromising.
Japan had more glimpses of the Malaysian goal in the first half but
failed to score as they looked very edgy when in the semicircle.
The Malaysians relied heavily on counter-attacks but failed to win any
penalty corners in the first half.
Malaysia started the second half with more urgency and ventured more
into Japanese territory. In the 40th minute Tajol Rosli won the first
penalty corner for Malaysia and Kuhan's flick grazed a Japanese defender's
leg.
The umpire awarded a second and this time, K. Keevan Raj pushed in and
Nor Azlan Bakar stopped well for Maninderjit to take a powerful shot at
goal.
The ball deflected off the keeper's pads and Keeven, who was still
positioned at the pusher's spot, pounced onto the ball to score with a
scorcher.
The 200-odd crowd at the stadium breathe a sigh of relief when the goal
came and suddenly Malaysia were all over the Japanese. Even fullback
Maninderjit made forays into the Japanese semicircle.
Malaysia were looking hungry for more goals with Mirnawan receiving more
passes than in the first half.
In the 60th minute Tajol supplied a brilliant cross from the left to
find an unmarked Mirnawan but the `Boss' failed to stop it and could only
watch as the ball rolled between his legs.
Coach Paul Lissek substituted Mirnawan a few times to give him some rest
because the striker was playing cautiously in order not to aggravate his
calf injury.
By the 65th minute, Japan could do nothing right and Malaysia came at
them in droves and did not allow them to come out of their semicircle for
long periods. Rodhanizam Radzi had a good second half but failed to score.
In the final five minutes, Malaysia started playing defensively with
more backpasses than forward.
Japan took the opportunity to come out and won two penalty corners but
failed to do any damage.
"I am very happy with the way the team played today (yesterday) but I
still feel that they can do much better," said Lissek. "The Challenge is
the right tournament for this team to grow in confidence.
"The three points are very valuable and now anything is possible. We can
now think of making the final."
Lissek's observation of the other five teams was very frank. He said he
did not see any clear favourites.
"India and Argentina were not very impressive and can be beaten. I hope
the boys will do well against Belgium today too."
RESULTS
Malaysia 1 Japan 0
K. Keevan Raj (40th)
South Africa 3 Argentina 2
Justin King (13th) Jorge Lombi (11th)
Craig Jackson (69th, 70th) Mario Almada (59th)
India 1 Belgium 0
Daljit Singh (47th)
jugjet@nstp.com.my
(END)