Sultan Azlan Shah and his Trophy at the Azlan Shah Stadium in Ipoh.
Malaysian Sardars Kelvinder Singh (left) and Baljit Singh Charun (third from left) watching Canada v Belgium at the Azlan Shah Stadium.MALAYSIA shocked the gallary with a superb display against Pakistan on Thursday, but none of the coaches or officials were the least surprised, because this is the true capability of this young team.
The national players were super fit, and their skills were far more supperiour than Pakistan, who are well known the world over for superb ball control and their ability to dribble out of tight spots with ease.
But on Thursday, one could be forgiven if he mistook Malaysia for Pakistan, for the national players did everything right, except score when presented with the opportunity.
The hightly entertaining match ended 3-2 in Pakistan's favour, but many feel that is not how it should have ended.
"This is what my team is capable of, and I am proud of them even in defeat. I only need to sharoen their scoring skills, and we will become a winning outfit," said national coach Sarjit Singh. However, the team was a total let-down when it mattered most -- the Japan Olympic Qualifiers.
"In Japan, we played two good matches. One was against Germany, and the other when we beat Poland for the bronze medal. In all the other matches, we had more than enough chances to win comfortably, but struggled to score even when presented with an open goalmouth," said Sarjit.
And that is why the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) is on the hunt for a foreign coach to sharpen the forwards scoring abilities, and another foreign coach to strenghten the defenders play in their own 25-yard. Sarjit, who will still be the chief coach, agrees that there is an urgen need for foreign expertise in these two departments.
"We are preparing this team for the Asia Cup next year (which is a qualifier for the 2010 Delhi World Cup), and the sooner we get foreign expertise, the better.
"The present batch of strikers are among the best I have seen for years, and the plan is to qualify for the World Cup from the Asia Cup itself, as qualifiers are becoming increasingly difficult to win nowdays," said Sarjit.
