A classic from Malaysia

03/03/2002

MALAYSIA played one of their best matches in years to beat England 2-1 in a World Cup Group B match at the National Hockey Stadium last night.
And as the hosts did their lap of honour at the end of the match,
cheered by a capacity crowd of 18,000, there was a feeling of `Merdeka' as our former Colonial masters were brought down.
There was another yellow `Tsunami' at the stadium to watch Malaysia
battle England, and this time they were rewarded as early as the eighth
minute.
When Malaysia won their first penalty corner in the seventh minute the
crowd went wild and almost brought down the temporary seats at the
stadium.
S. Kuhan's powerful drive was deflected high by England goalkeeper Jimi
Lewis and as the ball headed for goal an English defender made a high
clearance and the umpire, without hesitation, pointed to the penalty spot.
As Maninderjit Singh lined up to take the stroke, there was pin-drop
silence but Mike, as he is better known, was not to be denied. His low
powerful flick found the back of the net.
There was nothing in the Malaysian side to show that they were feeling
the `blues' after losing narrowly to South Korea the previous night and
their free-flowing attacking play gave the fans plenty to cheer.
Jiwa Mohan and Chua Boon Huat were entrusted to marshall the defence as
Nor Azlan Bakar took a break. The two Junior World Cup players were solid
and goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin only had to make one diving save to stop
a goal-bound attempt during the entire first half.
All the blood, sweat and toil of the past two years began to pay off as
Malaysia took total control of the first half with accurate passing and
slick stopping.
More than 10 attempts were made at the England goal but all whizzed from
left to right or vice versa as the forwards were slow to connect.
During the break, the 18,000 capacity crowd did the Mexican Wave and
enjoyed themselves thoroughly as they waited for action to resume.
The fans did not have long to wait.
Four minutes into the second half, a clever free hit by Chua from the
25-yard line was deflected by S. Shanker but as the ball was about to
crash into the net, England goalkeeper Lewis brought out a splendid save.
That was a signal of better things to come for Malaysia.
A minute later, Malaysia won a penalty corner and the surprise push from
the left of the goalmouth, instead of the normal right, took England by
surprise.
Maninderjit sent in a sizzling grounder and just as the ball was about
to hit the England 'keeper who was lying flat on the turf, Madzli Ikmar
jabbed his stick and deflected the ball over the `keeper.
Malaysia 2 England 0 and the action was sizzling - for Malaysia that is.
The hosts looked like thay had just started the match while the English
were jaded and looked intimidated by the robust crowd. In the 60th minute
the score could have been 3-0 but the post stood in the way.
Fairuz Ramli dribbled past a defender and sent the ball between the legs
of the England 'keeper but the ball hit the post and went out.
England reduced the margin in the 64th minute through a penalty corner
taken by Dave Mathews. But that was as far as England got.
The night belonged the men in yellow strips who received an emotional
standing ovation from the fans.
RESULTS AT A GLANCE
GROUP A
NETHERLANDS 2 PAKISTAN 1
Bram Lomans (18th, 37th) Khalid Saleem (55th)
SPAIN 2 SOUTH AFRICA 2
Pol Amat (22nd) Abrahams Clyde (23rd)
Eduard Tubau (35th) Justin King (70th)
GERMANY 2 NEW ZEALAND 1
Bjorn Michel (33rd) Hymie Gill (52nd)
Christoph Bechmann (63rd)
ARGENTINA 3 BELGIUM 1
Rodrigo Vila (34th) Charles Vandeweghe (45th)
Jorge Lombi (44th, 64th)
GROUP B
MALAYSIA 2 ENGLAND 1
Maninderjit Singh (8th) Dave Mathews (63rd)
Madzli Ikmar Mohd Nor (40th)
SOUTH KOREA 4 POLAND 0
Hwang Jong Hyun (10th)
Kim Jung Chul (15th)
Kim Kyung Seok (16th)
Lee Jung Seon (23rd)
INDIA 4 CUBA 0
Dilip Tirkey (9th)
Daljit Singh (14th)
Deepak Thakur Sonkhla (16th)
Baljit Singh Dhillon (52nd)
AUSTRALIA 5 JAPAN 0
Jeremy Hiskins (2nd)
Matthew Wells (8th, 54th)
Craig Victory (51st, 70th)
(END)