Sunday, July 18, 2010

Eight goals for Asean gold!

MALAYSIA whipped the daylights out of Singapore to claim the Asean Schools hockey gold at the Tun Razak Stadium yesterday.
The rout started with a third minute goal from skipper Kavin Kartik and when the final whistle blew, Singapore were hit for eight goals.
The win was never in doubt, as Malaysia were in fiery form the entire tournament, and scored a total of 33 goals in five matches.
The other Malaysian goals came from Anuar Wahab (12th), Shahril Sa'abah (18th, 27th), Dangerous Lee (22nd, 33rd), Dzahiruddin Illyas (63rd) and Mohamed Taufik (70th).
The Malaysian goalkeeper was never tested, and in the second half, Malaysia were literally camping in the Singapore semi-circle.
"I expected Singapore to put up a fight, but they were never in the match. Maybe it is because we hit them with early goals and they never recovered after the six in the first half," said Malaysian coach S. Prakash.
And this was not even the best Malaysian side, as the cream of under-18 players are now currently in a Tour of Europe in preparation for the 2013 Junior World Cup.
Even then, Malaysia won the Asean Schools gold without conceeding a single goal, mainly because their opponents were all not well prepared.
Meanwhile, the Project 2013 team beat Poland Under-21 4-1 in their third friendly.
The Project boys had drawn the first match 4-4 but lost the second 3-2.
They bounced back with style to claim the series and are now in Amsterdam for more friendlies.
The Malaysian goals against Poland were scored by Firhan Ashaari (42nd, 50th), Syamim Yusof (44th) and Amir Farid (63rd).
"Overall, there was a better understanding in the second half where they nailed their chances well. Nevertheless, the three matches in Poland were considered a success as the Polish had with them 12 players that beat Malaysia in the 2009 Junior World Cup.
"Poland were in their prime condition as they are getting ready to play in the Under-21 European Championship on July 23 in Poland," said Malaysian team manager Mirnawan Nawawi.