Malaysia go down under

25/02/2002

MALAYSIA ...... 0 AUSTRALIA ..... 3
MALAYSIA defended well and kept the score low in their opening match of
the World Cup at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil last night.
Spurred on by crowd and the heart-beat like consistent drumming from
the fan club, the first half was almost like a dream as Malaysia, battered
and bruised, kept a clean slate.
The biggest disappointment of the night was that the hosts failed to win
a single penalty corner in 70 minutes of play, but otherwise they did a
good job of keeping the score low, and even the crowd cheered for them as
the final whistle blew.
But three goals in the second half killed any hope of snatching a draw
in the opener. But thanks to Japan, who held India 2-2 at the adjacent
stadium, Malaysia are still on par for a good finish in the World Cup with
six more matches to go.
Malaysia played like possessed men in the first half but kept their cool
at the same time to put the pressure on the highly touted Australians in
the opening encounter.
Defenders Nor Azlan Bakar and Maninderjit Singh played so well that in
the entire first half, goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin only had to make three
attempts to stop the Aussies.
As the clock ticked by and the Australians still could not prise open
the Malaysian defence, the almost capacity crowd went wild with
anticipation of what Malaysia were capable of in the second half.
While Australia won five penalty corners, Malaysia were more than happy
defending and only making sporadic attacking moves when the opportunity
arrived. Gallantry was the keyword yesterday as there were more than three
Malaysian players at any one time rushing forward to stop the Australians
from reaching the semicircle and in the process, Malaysia almost lost
their center forward S. Kuhan in the 13th minute.
While trying to stop an attack, Kuhan stooped low and was hit on the
face but he made a return to the pitch five minutes later - with his face
bandaged and looking more determined than ever.
The only incident which marred a solid first half performance was the
yellow card received by K. Gobinathan for rough play. Otherwise, the first
half undoubtedly belonged to Malaysia.
In the second half, Malaysia came out charging but a superb cross from
Tajol Rosli in the 38th minute missed S.
Shanker's stick by inches and Australia were let off the hook for some
sloppy defending.
But in the 41st minute, all their hard work went up in smoke when
Michael McCann scored a soft goal off a goalmouth melee.
Malaysia kept their cool, but with the goal, Australia became more
ambitious and this spelled trouble for the hosts and the second goal
followed soon off a penalty corner rebound.
Craig Victory took the first shot but it rebounded off Roslan and was
picked up by Troy Elder, making the score 2-0 in the 51st minute.
As the drum beat slowed and the clock showed that Malaysia only had 12
minutes left, K. Logan Raj became another casualty and he was stretchered
off the pitch as Malaysia tried their best to keep the score down.
Australia practically camped in the Malaysian semicircle and Elder
increased the lead with a soft touch with two minutes left on the clock.
In the end, the Aussies were more than happy to walk away with three
points eventhough they should have won by a bigger margin, judging from
the amount of effort pumped into the match.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
RESULTS
GROUP B
MALAYSIA ........... 0 AUSTRALIA .................. 3
Michael McCann (41st)
Troy Elder (51st, 68th)
SOUTH KOREA ........ 6 CUBA ....................... 2
Yeo Woon Kon (9th) Alexander Abreu Abreus (19th)
Yoo Moon Ki (41st) Roberto Lemus Rodriguez (20th)
Song Seung Tae (44th)
Shin Seok Kyo (54th)
Kang Keon Wook (63rd)
Yoon Sung Hoon 67th)
ENGLAND ............ 1 POLAND ..................... 0
Dave Matthews (54th)
INDIA .............. 2 JAPAN ...................... 2
Dhanaraj Pillay (41st) Takahiko Yamahori (10th)
Deepak Thakur (47th) Kazuyuki Ozawa (36th)
(END)