Gung-ho Malaysia punished by Pakistan

21/01/2002

IT was touch and go in the first half, but Malaysia threw away chances to
share points with Pakistan in the Six-Nation at the National Hockey
Stadium in Bukit Jalil last night.
In the last 15 minutes of the match, the national side threw caution to
the wind and made a concerted effort at Pakistan's goal but were punished
severely for their gung-ho attitude with Pakistan running away 4-1.
The absence of S. Kuhan and Nor Azlan Bakar, both down with hamstring
injuries, made a big difference because Malaysia lacked bite in midfield
and defence.
Malaysia started very shakily and most of the players were fluttering
like chickens on the green turf of Bukit Jalil but still, Pakistan found
it hard to make any moves into the Malaysian semicircle.
There were a few nerve wracking backpasses between K. Gobinathan and
Maninderjit Singh which were almost snatched by the speedy Pakistani
forwards but for the first 25 minutes, Malaysia were in control.
Shahbaz Ahmed and Shabbir Muhammad had three good looks at the Malaysian
goalmouth but Roslan Jamaluddin stood his ground well and denied them.
There was some good understanding and excellent passing in the Malaysian
side in the latter part of the first half but they could not enter the
Pakistan semicircle because the players had too much respect for Pakistan
and did not have the courage to go the extra mile.
The strategy of minimizing penalty corners worked well with the
Malaysian forwards making no mistakes in the semicircle, until the 29th
minute that is.
Pakistan were awarded a penalty corner and the 6,000-odd crowd went wild
expecting a goal from Pakistan and they were rewarded, Roslan Jamaluddin
rushed out to face Sohail Abbas at the top of the semicircle, but Sohail
was wise to the move executed by Malaysia during the friendlies, made a
clever pull to the right and found Shahbaz. The veretan striker took a
shot at goal.
The ball was deflected by a Malaysian defender but Saqlain Muhammad was
at the right place to tap in for the lead.
After the breather, Malaysia came out charging like an angry bull and
Pakistan were in trouble for a good 10 minutes as the ball whizzed across
their goalline from the left to right, but there was no Malaysian player
clever enough to connect it into goal.
The 46th minute, Malaysia were punished for a defensive error by Shahbaz
with a sleek field goal after their earlier shots at goal were deflected
well by Roslan.
It was Shahbaz's first international goal after coming out of a three-
year retirement. Yesterday, it looked like he had booked a spot in the
Pakistan team and will make his fifth World Cup appearance in February.
The floodgates opened after that goal and Pakistan mounted a series of
well co-ordinated attacks.
In Pakistan's haste to increase the lead, every player started camping
at the Malaysian semicircle and they won their second penalty corner in
the 61st minute.
Sohail was stopped this time and Malaysia mounted a swift counterattack
and Maninderjt Singh's shot from the top of the Pakistan semicircle was
deflected into the goal by Tajol Rosli and it looked like Malaysia could
pull off an upset.
But four minutes later, Kashif Jawad broke Malaysian hearts with a
trademark Pakistan goal. Kashif received the ball after a Malaysian
blunder in midfield and he toyed around with Roslan before taking the
score to 3-1.
Pakistan won two consecutive penalty corners after that and in his
second attempt, Sohail Abbas got his name on the scoresheet in the 69th
minute.
Pakistan team manager Khalid Khokar said they came prepared for
Malaysia.
"We knew that the goalkeeper was going to rush out in the penalty
corners so we prepared a set-piece and scored the first goal because of
that," said Khokar.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
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