Malaysians show their mettle

22/02/2002

WITH barely two days left for the World Cup, there was a sneak preview of
what the Malaysian side is capable of in hockey's most glamourous event.
Malaysia showed that they are ready to put up a good fight in the World
Cup starting on Sunday while the Germans strongly indicated that they are
ready to lift the World Cup title for the first time since 1971.
Although it was only a friendly match, 20 minutes of each half, there
was a clear indication of what the hosts are made of and how they will
cope in the tournament proper.
The fact that Germany scored two soft goals and won 2-0 does not matter
because the national players did show some promise and gave the Germans
some anxious moments with fluent play in the semicircle.
Rodhanizam Radzi, who only made his debut in top flight hockey last year
in the Azlan Shah Cup in August, looked sharp and Mirnawan Nawawi was his
usual self. But he did miss a few good chances, not because he was off
form but the German defenders are built like the great wall of China and
are ready for the best strikers of the world.
"Although we lost 2-0, I am very happy with the way the team played and
it was excellent practice for the World Cup," said Stephen van Huizen
after the match.
Stephen was especially pleased with the way the Malaysian midfield
worked and fed the forwards with piercing passes which sliced past the
entire German team.
For the past few weeks, those who have been regularly watching the
Malaysian side in action, will know that Paul Lissek had been drilling
them to make long and piercing passes into the opponents semicircle.
Yesterday, they did just that against the Germans but once they got into
the semicircle, Mirnawan and his men froze as the towering Florian Kunz
made sure the Germans kept a clean slate.
Both the teams played the same brand of hockey (lots of square and
backpasses) and there was only one glaring difference. Germany was an
attacking side while Malaysia was a defensive side.
To win matches, Malaysia must go on the offensive more often and not
just rely on accurate passing and wait for long periods for the opponents
to open up and make a dash into the semicircle.
German coach Bernhard Peters summed up the situation when he
said that after taking over the German national side from Paul Lissek, he
changed two things - made them more attack-based, and more adventurous.
Lissek has maintained his style and now the Malaysian side are feared
most when they go into a defensive shell because they are more difficult
to prise open than a live oyster when they are in that mood.
But lapses of concentration was still evident in the Malaysian side and
Stephen blamed it on being "having too much of respect for the Germans."
But on Sunday, there will be no more room for silly mistakes because the
curtain raiser against the Australian side will be anything but easy.
But with the Malaysian side one never really knows what to expect,
because in the Six-Nation in January they held the Aussies to a 2-2 draw,
and on a good day they could well put the brakes on Barry Dancer and his
men.
As for the Germans, they easily have the best team in the world right
now and only a natural calamity or sheer bad luck can deny them their
glory.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
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