Malaysians open quest in style

06/01/2003

MALAYSIA...................3 SOUTH KOREA.............1
MALAYSIA lived dangerously in the first 10 minutes but their growing
confidence took them to a 3-1 win over South Korea in their Under-19 Four-
Nation Invitational match at the National Hokey Stadium in Bukit Jalil
last night.
A skilful display, matched by intelligent moves, mesmerised the crowd
and even a missed penalty stroke was forgotten when the final whistle
came.
But Malaysia's start was very shaky as the overconfident hosts were
punished in the fifth minute when S. Bubalan trapped a cross for Woo Dae
Myung right at the goalline. Woo took his time, turned and beat goalkeeper
Khairul Nizam.
The confident Koreans kept up the pressure but the Malaysians kept their
cool and switched play from right to left, and then virtually made camp in
the Korean semi-circle.
But the score remained despite the Malaysians trying everything. Poor
co-ordination coupled with selfish play by forwards Redza Maadun and
Tengku Ahmad Tajuddin saw numerous chances go to waste.
The hosts finally settled in the 15th minute and the 500-odd crowd urged
them on as they started to play as a team and rarely made any mistake -
except in the Korean semi-circle.
But Megat Azrafiq made good in the 20th minute when Malaysia won their
third penalty corner, which was subsequently botched, but luckily, the
ball fell at the feet of Megat who hammered in a low reverse stick to beat
Korean goalkeeper Kim Jae Young.
The equaliser ignited the Malaysians and two minutes later Redza Maadun
dribbled past three Koreans, including goalkeeper Kim, and was about to
push the ball in when he was brought down by Kim's extended hockey stick.
Malaysia were awarded a penalty stroke and Megat walked to the spot but
his weak flick was saved by Kim and Malaysia missed a golden opportunity
to take the lead.
But in the 30th minute, after putting up a great show for the crowd,
Malaysia finally found the elusive second goal. This time, deft one-two
play between Fikri Bassar and Redza beat the entire Korean defence and
Redza had the last touch for a briliant and well deserved field goal.
In the second half, Malaysia switched their attack from the right to the
centre and the Koreans were clearly at a loss as to how to contain the
swift attacks.
In the 45th minute, Malaysia fought tooth-and-nail for a penalty corner
and even the dummy was excelent as the ball found Fairuz Hamsani whose
shot bounced off the chest of goalkeeper Kim. Fikri slapped the rebound
but missed the target by centimetres.
Heavy rain a minute later slowed down the explosive match but failed to
dampen the fighting spirit of the Malaysians.
The rain turned into a deluge and officials halted the match for 15
minutes for safety reasons.
Upon rsumption, Malaysia still held a tight grip on the match even
though the Koreans looked dangerous.
In the 50th minute Fakhrulrazi Baharuddin sent a thundering shot from
the top of the Korean semi-circle and Malaysia were 3-1 up.
The cushion saw some of the Malaysian players go into a slumber and the
Koreans took advantege with some swift counter-attacks but failed to score
as goalkeeper Khairul Nizam stood his ground well.
Today: India v Malaysia (6pm), Korea v Malaysian under-16 (8pm).
Tomorrow: Malaysia under-16 v Pakistan (6pm).
(END)