The nightmare continues

17/10/2001

By Jugjet Singh in Hobart

HOBART: Malaysia scored first but it did not matter because all those who
watched their classification match against South Africa in the Junior
World Cup knew that another disaster was in the making at the Tasmanian
Hockey Centre yesterday.
So when the final whistle blew, it was a big surprise that they managed
to win a point in their second Group H match. on Sunday, the Juniors were
held to a 1-1 draw by Scotland. They are now left with two points from two
matches.
The Chileans, who play the Malaysians today, could go on to spoil the
mood in the Malaysian camp when they wrap up the second round fixtures
unless skipper Chua Boon Huat and company come up with some excellent
performance in their quest for ninth placing.
But Chile is another story, the disappointing match against South Africa
took the cake yesterday.
There was never a moment that Malaysia actually resembled a team which
has been preparing for the past three years and in their bungling ways,
they made the South Africans look good.
Watching the Malaysians in the first half was a painful sight as
whenever the forwards took the ball to their opponents 25-yard line, they
made a back pass to either defenders Chua and S. Shanker who in turn took
their time and switched play from left to right and sometimes got robbed
of the ball with weak passes.
The South Africans had their share of a peek at the Malaysian goalmouth
but could do little damage as they were without good forwards. The
Malaysians, on the other hand, had three penalty corners.
In the 33rd minute, in one of their rare moves into the South African
semicircle, the ball struck K. Logan Raj's stick and deflected into goal
after a goalmouth melee. It not only caught the fans by surprise but also
the stunned Malaysians who only regained their composure and celebrated
after the umpire blew for goal.
The second half was no different, with the Malaysians packing their own
defence and allowing the opposition to come at them.
And it was this blunder that allowed South Africa to equalise because
every time Norazlan Rahim or Tajol Rosli received the ball in midfield,
they turned back to the Malaysian goal and made a back pass to the
defenders. Wisened up by the move by now, the South African strikers
pounced on a back pass in the 54th minute and relayed the ball to Ian
Symons. Symons blasted it past goalkeeper Firdaus Razali.
In the 60th minute, the South Africans could have taken the lead off a
penalty stroke after Redzuan Ponirin was penalised but Firdaus pulled off
a superb save.
Firdaus, who replaced Saiful Azhar after three matches here, has been
playing to form. He has saved three out of four penalty strokes awarded
against Malaysia in the second round of the tournament.
Coach Yahya Atan defended his boys and was happy with the one point they
salvaged against South Africa.
"They did well and held on to the ball for long periods just like they
were told to do. We missed a couple of chances in our counter attacks but
we can still salvage some pride by beating Chile which will take our total
to five points.
"The target to finish ninth is still within our reach. Chile can be
beaten," said Yahya.
Malaysia take on Chile at 12 noon (Malaysian time) while South Africa
and Scotland play in the morning.
All this only makes our task much harder as the Juniors will have to win
by a big margin against Chile, and hope that the Scotland-South Africa
match does not end in a draw. SECOND ROUND RESULTS
GROUP E
GERMANY 7 SOUTH KOREA 3
GROUP F
ARGENTINA 3 HOLLAND 2
LOSER'S POOL
GROUP G
NEW ZEALAND 4 FRANCE 3
GROUP H
MALAYSIA 1 SOUTH AFRICA 1
Jugjet@nstp.com.my
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