China beat Malaysia in pre-Asiad Test

05/09/2002

FINALLY, the unthinkable has happened - China beat Malaysia 3-2 in the
second Test in Beijing yesterday.
After a 3-3 draw on Tuesday, the Malaysian squad crumbled and now the
prospect of winning a medal at the Asian Games in Busan looks a distant
dream.
The idea of having five Test matches against China was to boost the
national players' confidence in the run-up to the Asian Games, but now it
looks like the Chinese have emerged as strong contenders for an Asian
Games medal instead.
"After watching the Chinese play in two matches, I personally feel that
they have a good chance of even beating Pakistan in the Asian Games," said
national coach Paul Lissek in a telephone interview from Beijing.
Malaysia scored first from a Rodhanizam Radzi field goal but China
equalised before the breather. After the restart, Malaysia again took the
lead when Azlan Misron scored a field goal but that was it.
China took the match to the Malaysian half and equalised before
clinching the winner three minutes from time.
"It was a silly mistake made by (K.) Gobinathan which allowed them back
into the match. But overall, the Malaysian team was better than China in
tactics and skills, but lost out on fitness," said Lissek.
The German was amazed to see the Chinese players conduct a sprint
session after the gruelling match, while his charges only did a warmdown.
"They (the Chinese) are superfit and swift in counter-attacks and of the
five attempts at goal, they scored three times.
"I am very sore with the defenders (Gobinathan and S. Kuhan) because
they made too many errors and let in six goals in two matches," said
Lissek.
Yesterday, Lissek replaced goalkeeper Roslan Jamaluddin with S. Kumar,
but he was also not up to the mark.
"I have tried out every player except Redzuan Ponirin in the two Test
matches and tomorrow (today) is a rest day and I will have to plan for a
win to narrow the psychological gap before the Asian Games," added the
coach.
CHINA Tour squad - Goalkeepers: Roslan Jamaluddin, S. Kumar.
Defenders: S. Kuhan, Amin Rahim, K. Gobinathan, Redzuan Ponirin, Azrul
Effendy Bistaman, K. Keevan Raj.
Midfielders: Megat Azrafiq Megat Termizi, Madzli Ikmar, Norazlan Rahim,
Shaiful Azli.
Forwards: Azlan Misron, Fairuz Ramli, Rodhanizam Radzi, Chairil Anwar,
Chua Boon Huat, Riduan Nasir.
(END)