Lissek's men in for a difficult time

20/01/2002

MALAYSIA can expect a torrid time today when the meet Pakistan in the Six-
Nation at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil.
They can forget about the results in the two friendlies, where Malaysia
lost 2-1 and then amazed everybody with a 3-3 draw, because it is obvious
now that Pakistan held back in both matches.
The men in green showed their true potential against Holland on Friday
when they sidelined the World Cup champions with a 3-0 drubbing.
Hamstring injuries to S. Kuhan and Nor Azlan Bakar has only made things
more difficult for the Malaysians. Yesterday, it was confirmed that Nor
Azlan suffered a hamstring injury in the first five minutes against Japan
but he has not been ruled outof the Six-Nation.
In the absence of Nor Azlan, K. Gobinathan and Madzli Ikmar will take
turns to keep the score down alongside Maninderjit Singh.
"We did an MRI scan on Nor Azlan today and found that he has a hamstring
strain and not a tear. He can play in the Six-Nation but against Pakistan
tomorrow (today) he is a doubtful starter," said National Sports Institure
director Dr Ramlan Aziz.
"The results in the friendlies cannot be used as a yardstick because
Pakistan, naturally, held back. Against Holland, they played much better
but then I noticed that Holland were not at their best too," said chief
coach Paul Lissek.
Shahbaz Ahmad is making a strong comeback to claim a spot in the 2002 KL
World Cup and stopping the speedy striker will be the least of Malaysia's
problems today.
The one-man machine who could do the most damage is penalty corner
specialist Sohail Abbas. And the only way to stop him is not to give away
too many penalty corners.
Against Japan, shaky defending led to Malaysia conceeding seven penalty
corners, and against Pakistan, that might as well be four goals for
Sohail.
If Lissek decides to field Nasihin Nubli against Pakistan, it will be
interesting to see how his new penalty corner strategies minimises damage.
In the second friendly, Nasihin charged at Sohail while the rest of the
defenders stayed on the goalline. Sohail was stunned with the move and
flicked wide to avoid Nasihin. There has been a marked improvement in the
Malaysian side but it is still not enough to make a strong presence at
World Cup level.
"With two regulars injured (Kuhan and Nor Azlan), I have no capable
back-up players to replace them. The depth of the bench is not strong
enough and that might pose a big problem in the World Cup," said Lissek.
Malaysia are not the only team bogged down by injuries in the run-up to
the World Cup. Holland have a bigger problem as their penalty corner
secialist Bram Lomans is also down with a calf injury while playmaker
Peter Windt has a blood cloth on his calf and will be out for three weeks. RESULTS
N ZEALAND 3 HOLLAND 1
Bevan Hari (14th, 47th) Remco van Wijk (68th)
Bret Lever (39th) JAPAN 1 AUSTRALIA 3
Naohiko Tobita (62nd) Matthew Wells (15th)
Elder (34th, 47th)
jugjet@nstp.com.my
(END)