Malaysia surprise Spain

17/06/2002

MALAYSIA .......3 SPAIN ..........3
GERMANY ........5 ARGENTINA ......4
MALAYSIA served a surprise in the Hamburg Masters yesterday when they held
Spain to a 3-3 draw.
Malaysia, who were handed a 7-1 drubbing by world champions Germany in
their first match on Friday, shocked Spain with the opening goal in the
11th minute when Fairuz Ramli tapped in a field goal.
But the Spaniards were jolted into action by the goal and in the 30th
minute, Victor Soyol scored the equaliser and Malaysia looked like they
were in trouble but held on till the breather.
After the break, everything pointed towards a landslide win for Spain
when Albert Sala scored in the 40th minute and seven minutes later, Pole
Amat got into the act and it was Spain 3 Malaysia 1.
With 10 minutes left, Malaysia threw everything forward and were
rewarded when K. Keevan Raj scored in the 63rd minute and one minute
later, Mohamed Fakhrulrazi jabbed home the equaliser and Malaysia had
every reason to celebrate the draw.
National coach Paul Lissek said the national side took some time to
settle, but he was happy with their commitment.
In the other match, Germany had to bring out their best to beat
Argentina 5-4. Both teams played an attacking game in the first half and
Germany scored through Matthias Witthaus (8th) and Bjoern Michel (10th)
but Argentina pulled one back when Matias Paredes scored in the 11th.
German skipper Florian Kunz made it 3-1 in the 13th minute but Argentine
Rodrigo Vila reduced the deficit in the 19th.
Penalty corner specialist Jorge Lombi scored in the 30th minute to level
the score but the Argentinian celebrations were cut short by goals by
Michel (34th) and Sascha (35th).
Argentina went into attack mode in the second half but all they could
manage was a Paredes effort in the 56th minute.
Today: Malaysia v Argentina; Germany v Spain.
(END)